Last day on the seas

On August 25, 2026August 25, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Kai Kecil, Indonesia

July 2026

We were now sailing through a sea of FADs (pun intended) – Fish aggregating devices. These are man made structures used to attract large fish. In this area they are large rafts, but in some areas, they may just be small floats that have hanging ropes and nets. Small fish gather underneath the shelters, bringing in the larger fish such as tuna and marlin, which are then caught

Earlier in the trip we had hooked (on the ship) a couple of the smaller ones (which don’t always have any kind of beacon or light) and here, they are made to house people with small huts on top! In fact, a job on a FAD is a very well paying job for young local boys. Not sure how much the job was worth for the 16 year old who spent 49 days adrift on one after it broke loose in a storm.

He drifted almost 2,000km before being rescued. Apparently, he did not return to a job on the FADs!

Today’s landscape was completely different to yesterday’s volcanic caldera and the soaring mountains of the day before, as today we were visiting the low lying coral island of Kei (or Kai) Kecil (or Little Kei Island) in the Kai Island group. (The other main island in the group is called Kai Besar, meaning Great Kai Island – very imaginative lol).

It was a moody morning, but it did not take away from the beauty of the island, it apparently has some of the softest white sand, and clearest turqoise waters in the world and it was definitely one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen. The sand was more like talcum powder!

It was a stunning backdrop for the welcome we were to receive. Much of the town’s population was on Ngurblat Beach and a large marquee had been set up for shade as we awaited the performances by local children.

Initially there was a “warrior’ dance, followed by a group of children playing a local instrument (I actually don’t know what it was called) and singing. It was quite different to anything else we have experienced and it was truly beautiful.

After the welcome, we free time to walk around the area a learn a little more about it. It was clear that this was a small beach resort town, but it seemed pretty empty. Apparently they get approximately 2,000 foreign tourists visit a year, due to the difficult route to get here, but this makes it that little more special in my eyes.

I don’t think that I have mentioned previously, that on each stop in Indonesia, while we were on shore, the captain arranged to take some of the local children out to the ship – sometimes up to 70 of them! On board, they enjoyed ice cream, going up and down in the elevator (which many have never seen before) and looking at the books in the library.

It was always so special to see their excitement as they jumped into the zodiacs to head out to the ship and their screams of joy as they came back (with the zodiac drivers doing donuts on the way back to shore). It was very special. We actually demanded donuts on our way back to the ship and screamed with excitement too!

Our final afternoon was spent on a small but perfectly formed island where we could snorkel and relax. The snorkelling was amazing, with the highlight being some stunning giant clams, and my go pro came in handle to bat away the few jelly fish I saw lol. A small bar was set up on shore serving rum punches and after some time snorkelling, I enjoyed a couple. It was a perfect sea, sand, sun and sky (oh and rum punch). I wish it never had to end.

But, it actually wasn’t quite the end, as we still had another whole day on board as we continued to sail south and our final sea day meant a couple more lectures, packing and a visit to the bridge which is almost always open for visitors but I had not yet visited.

It was really interesting to see all the FADs and Indonesian fishing vessels on the radar, and the clear demarcation between Indonesian (where there were lots of boats and FADs) and Australian waters were there was hardly any.

I also attended a talk on the history of the ship we were sailing on – the Heritage Adventure. Heritage Expeditions purchased it in 2019 (I think), not long after it sank a Venezualan naval ship as it tried to boat and take control of it!! Apparently, they had fired live ammo at it, before trying to ram it, not realising it had an ice strengthen hull, ultimately sinking themselves!

There wasn’t much more we could do around the ship as the crew were already busy scrubbing the it from top to bottom in preparation for our arrival into Australia. We were also now in open ocean so although it was not rough, there was definitely some more movement than we had had previously.

Before I knew it, it was time for our final sunset, out final briefing and farewell dinner. It was such a great trip, and I was truly sad for it to come to an end and to say goodbye to new friends.

Our bags had to be outside our rooms by 6am, but as always, I was up around 5am and headed up to the deck as we pulled into Darwin harbour with the local pilot. The final sunrise did not disappoint. It was stunning with an amazing red sun – just what I would have expected from the ‘top end” of Australia.

All that remained was to disembark for the last time, clear Australian customs and immigration, and say our final farewells.

Moving through the Malukus’

On August 18, 2026August 18, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Buru & Banda Neira, Indonesia, July 2026

Next up on our itinerary was the island of Buru. I had been there on my previous voyage back in 2022, and the experience was not great! It was the first time an expedition ship had visited, and it was not well organised. Low tide left snorkellers and walkers stranded for what seemed like hours!

I hoped for a better experience today, and it started off well with the most beautiful pink sky, caressing the mountain tops as we headed off in the zodiacs. We worked our way along the coastline, and I easily recognised the spot where we had been stranded on my previous visit. This time it was high tide so there was even less beach than we had been stranded on!

It was so still at this time of the day, and we had a beautiful zodiac cruise along the palm lined coast and into the mangroves. Spotting birds and turtles before we landed in the town of Pasir Putih.

As we had become accustomed, we were welcomed by a large number of people, young and old. A formal welcome for our representatives, then a couple of dances. The first was a very special one – apparently reserved for special guests and Sultans and the second was a more modern interpretation of a traditional dance. It looked a little like a TikTok dance to me lol. Finally, there were some very long welcome speeches, in their local language so we didn’t really know what they were saying!

With the formalities over, we had about 30 minutes to look around the village, a traditional stilt village, where part of the village is made of houses on bamboo stilts over the ocean and linked together by a narrow walkway.

It was lovely wandering around the town, again, with a lot of selfies and high fives. Lots of fish and cocoa beans drying in the sun. Buru definitely turned it on for us and I can categorically say it redeemed itself.

We headed back to the boat for a quick change before we were out again for a snorkel. There was a bit of current so it was more of a ‘drift snorkel’ from one zodiac to another, and the water was much colder than what we had become accustom. We definitely made the most of the morning, before spending the rest of the day at sea, on our way to our next destination.

Of course, time at sea means lectures and this afternoon’s learnings were on the Indonesian spice trade – part of the rich history of the Maluku Islands often known as the Spice Islands, where we were travelling through.

At one time, this area was the sole source of the nutmeg and cloves (amongst other spices) and the European “powers”, in particular the Dutch (via the Dutch East India Company) and the Portuguese fought brutal wars (of course the Brits were in there somewhere too) to monopolise the lucrative trade. It’s crazy to think that something we can now walk into a supermarket and buy for a few dollars, influcenced global colonisation and was the cause of wars and genocides. Spices and seasonings were so important, and expensive, that people were payed in salt (or sal), hence the term salary. Who knew!

We sailed through the afternoon and night and by 7am we were passing the infamous Rhun (Run) island – why is Rhun island infamous I hear you cry, never heard of it some may say. Another quirky spice trade factoid is that in 1667, the Treaty of Breda formalised the trade to the Dutch of Rhun Island, a tiny island in the Banda archipelago, which the British held, for the island of New Amsterdam … now known as Manhattan.

Now it sounds like an odd trade these days, but in the 1600’s Rhun Island grew a large amount of nutmeg (which was worth more than gold). Whilst New Amsterdam was a small frontier town with ‘unruly’ locals. How times have changed! I made sure to be up on deck as we passed Run – what an isolated and somewhat desolate island it is these days!

Unfortunately, as generally comes with colonisation, during the course of the spice wars, the Dutch massacred almost the entire native population of the Banda Islands, and those that survived fled to other islands. We were to learn more about this tragedy during the day.

I had decided to join the birders today and go on the bird walk in the morning, so I started off getting my eye in by taking photos of sea birds from the ship, then the call went out … spinner dolphins off the bow. This was quickly followed by a super pod (that is between 200-300) of melon headed whales!

And the welcomes were not over … as we pulled in the harbour, we were flanked by two kora koras, local canoes, each with 25 men who sang and drummed as they escorted us into the harbour. What a special morning.

In the harbour where we moored, we had Banda Neira on one side, the main island of the Banda Islands, which are made up of 10 small volcanic islands, and just across the narrow strait, was Banda Api. A 640 metre, active volcano, which last major eruption was in 1988.

Our birding excursion on on Banda Api, which is only 3km wide and has a population of approximately 1,800. As soon as we arrived, we started spotting birds. I should note that the main birding guides, Adam and Oscar, are incredible – both in knowledge and had amazing abilities to spot birds!

As we strolled very slowly along a pathway, we passed beautiful, brightly coloured houses, with lovely tiled front steps and flowers and of course paused (sometimes for quiet sometime) to spot birds – including a kingfisher, a Banda Honeyeater, a Banda Neira Myzomela (endemic to these islands), an Elegant Imperial pigeon (also endemic to the area) and a Dollar Bird which posed for some time for us to get the perfect shot.

We also spent a fair amount of time trying to spot an elusive Banda Sea Pitta. We could hear it calling it, but it did not appear for us. Never the less, it was a lovely, relaxed morning.

In the afternoon, we went landed on Banda Neira Island. It is actually smaller than Banda Api but has a population of closer to 7,000. It also has a pretty tragic history.

Once a hub of the nutmeg and spice trade, today, the main part of the town today still contains many buildings reflecting its European colonisation. First came the Portuguese, who arrived in the early 1500’s and started building a fort on the island, however the local people revolted and forced them to leave.

They were then replaced by the Dutch, who showed up in the late 1500’s, initially establishing a good relationship with the locals. Unfortunately, this did not last long, as the locals opposed the Dutch attempts to create a monopoly on the spice trade, and an uprising resulted in the death of 30 Dutch men. Of course, this meant the Dutch came down hard and raged a brutal campaign against the locals, resulting in the Banda Massacre in 1621, effectively committing genocide against the locals, reducing the Bandanese population to around 100, who were then enslaved. The rest of the population was replaced with slaves from other islands to keep the islands spice trade productive.

Today, the main town is a relic of its faded colonial past, overlooked by the five sides Fort Belgica, which was originally built in 1611.

After quite a spectacular welcome in the town square, we headed off in small groups with our local guides to look around the town, visiting some of the more significant historic buildings and Fort Nassau. One of the five forts on the island. This one is relatively rundown and not much more than some walls around an open space, however it is said that this was the site of much of the genocide.

We continued our wandering passed a large Kora Kora on display, the kind we were greeted by this morning (mostly used for ceremony and transport and war and pillaging), the “mini” palace (the office of the VOC officials). It was interesting to learn that the earliest of buildings were made with coral, and later by concret/brick.

We ended up at Fort Belgica, which over looks the city, and in fact most of the island. Built in the 17^th century, it was refurbished in the 1990s to become a tourist site.

Finally, we got a little time wander slowly back to our landing point, but not before partaking in the mandatory snacks, put on in a lovely old colonial hotel.

Another fabulous day exploring the world.

Whale Sharks & Welcomes

On August 8, 2026August 8, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Indonesia, July 2026

Today we stopped off the coast of the town of Gorontalo, further south on the island of Sulawesi. It is famous for scuba diving, and more importantly, whale shark encounters. This was the reason we were here and it is clear it is a big source of income for the town.

I had signed up for the first zodiac of the day, so it was a very early start and we were in the water a little after 6am! As with my experience in Cenderawasih Bay in Western Papua 4 years ago, they were feeding the sharks and to be honest I was not 100% certain it was an experience I wanted to do again (but of course I did – and lived to regret it… read on). This time the feeding was from small boats, in much shallower water, as we were less than 100m from the shore.

Initially, there were way less people in the water (20 in total) and 3 juvenile sharks around 4.5-5.5m long. From experience, I decided to hang back and enjoy seeing them as they circled around the area. You really had to keep an eye out in every direction, as you never knew where they might appear from and did not seem to care if we were in the way! Despite their size, they were thankfully very calm and graceful so did not induce any fear in me.

When our 12 minutes was over, we swim the short distance to the shore, where we could relax until it was time for our second swim (if we wanted to do one). I took the opportunity to wander around this part of the town. Clearly the waterfront was set up for the Whale Shark tourists, with small shops and cafes (most of which were not open as it was still only 6.30am)!

But just one street back from the waterfront, normal life appeared. We are now in a predominately Muslim area and that was apparent within the architecture and clothing of those people we saw. We had also been advised go cover shoulders and knees when going ashore to be respectful of the culture.

Back in the water for my second session and this time there were less but, but only 2 sharks. Again I hung back and enjoyed seeing them swim around me and to be honest, I was pretty happy with the experience, until ….

I was swimming back to shore when I saw that they basically had people riding the sharks! Someone (my guess was a local tourist who perhaps could not swim) sat in a clear kayak which a ‘guide’ pulled along whilst throwing food directly in to the sharks mouth to keep them at the surface so the kayak is basically on their backs!! What a circus – I was fuming and sadly it tainted my whole experience. Apparently it is a social media crazy to get photos of this from drones (and yes there were lots flying around)!

It as such a shame as it is amazing to see these beautiful animals in their own habit but then to see them being treated like circus animals was so sad. Fair to say I will not be participating in any similar events in the future!

As we had started at 6am we were back on board by 8.30am and we had an interesting presentation on the conflict between conservation and over tourism (apt after the morning’s experience). This was given by Abam, our Indonesian guide, who is one of the founders of the Elasmobranch Insitute Indonesia, an NGO focusing on shark and ray conservation. He acknowledged this mornings events and noted that changes in mindset around wildlife takes time and is one of their biggest challenges.

As we continued to sail south, we crossed the equator, which of course meant an initiation ceremony for those pollywogs amongst us i.e those who have never crossed the equator at sea. The crew always put on a fun event, where those being initiated must kiss a fish to appease Neptune. I enjoyed the spectical (and the rum punch that accompanied it lol).

We stopped off at Malenge, in the Togean Islands (and part of Kepulauan Togean National Park) in the afternoon in the hope of spotting yet another animal I had never heard of – the Barbirusa deer-pig! They are members of the swine family, found only in a handful of Indonesian islands. There are species (unique to individual islands) and all are listed as threatened. They are sometimes referred to as ‘prehistoric pigs’ as they can be seen in cave drawings 35,000 years old!

They are most notable for their long upper canines (in males) which can sometime grow around and penetrate the pig’s skull! Females only have the lower canines.

We landed in yet another picture perfect resort where they put out food for them (it seems to be a day for feeding wildlife), but as they are wild they don’t always come to eat and unfortunately today was one of those days. However, there was a smaller spot in the next bay where one was, so we jumped back in the Zodiac and headed around.

The one here appeared to be more like a pet and was very tame, but at least I got to see one. It was more of a photo opportunity then a true wildlife experience – conservation may not have won today!

Dinner tonight was a BBQ on the deck as the sunset. A perfect end to an another day of exploration.

After such an early start the day before, the next day was a bit more relaxed as we did not arrive at our destination for the day until around 10am, which was of course followed by the usual formalities before we could start our day with a zodiac cruise around the beautiful Seho Island. As with previous days, the water was an incredible turquoise blue, and the lush, dense green forest cascaded down the cliffs to the water. Not too much to see in the way of wildlife but we did watch some local fisherman for a while, checking out what they had caught in their nets.

Our morning ended with a stunning snorkel. It was a little shallow and the tide going out so you had to take real care when swimming over the coral, so didn’t stay long but it was lovely. As was the beach which had a pink tinge to it, due to the crushed coral and it was beautiful.

The local tourism board had arranged for people on the beach to provide fresh coconuts. This time they even had t-shirts made specially for the occasion.

We repositioned over lunch to a mooring just off the coast from Taliabu Island and the town of Bobong, where we were basically welcomed by the whole town and a lot of welcome formalities!

The welcome ceremony started with Elaine (Elaine #2 that is) and Peter on shore where there feet were washed with the water of a young coconut and then they were beaten with some sort of foliage! We then walked a short distance down the road to the town hall for a formal welcome. Again it seems much of the town was there.

Fire, ambulance, police, army, children, adults … everyone was there and most wanted selfies either with themselves or with their children! We were definitely made to feel like celebrities for the day.

After welcome speeches and more dancing, we were divided into small groups with local guides for a walk around the town which was madness – everywhere we went people were pushing their children on us to have photos – it’s really was an event as we walked around the town.

We passed the government buildings, a new hospital and then through the market and back around to the water front. I took some time to wander around on my own (trying to get out the crowds that followed us everywhere).

Back on the ship for dinner and I got thoroughly embarrassed at dinner by a birthday cake and a very very long song from all the staff (yes, it was my birthday)! I then got back to my room to find it full of balloons, a big birthday banner, a towel cake and a hand written card, signed by the expedition crew. It was all very sweet. ❤️

Goodbye Philippines, hello Indonesia

On July 27, 2026July 27, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Bucas Grande, The Phillipines & Tangkoko, Indonesia

July 2026

For our last day in the Philippines, we woke moored between the paradise of Sohoton Cove National Park, on Bucas Grande island and a large nickel mine on the neighbouring island, with barren, dusty hills and 8 huge ships moored up along its shores. The two could not be more different – a literal beauty and the beast

Thankfully, we were to spend our morning around the beautiful Bucas Grande Island, and we started by exploring the towering limestone cliffs and incredible blue/green water, interspersed with perfect palmed lined white sand beaches.

Our zodiac meanderings followed around the coastline, spotting flora and fauna and even a few jellyfish in the perfectly clear water and we ended at a pontoon where we were given helmets and we transferred to small local outrigger boats and are local guides took us through a low cave. You can’t get through it at high tide and I could see why, I ended up in the bottom of the boat to avoid hitting my head.

We came out into a hidden Tojoman Lagoon, a literal wonder-world, surrounded by lush jungle covered limestone cliffs. Below us was was clearest emerald, green water and in that water was the pièce de résistance, hundreds, possibly thousands of jellyfish. Not just any old jellyfish, but golden, non-stinging spotted jellyfish (or mastigias papua) that are believed to have evolved in isolation.

I had seen photos of the jelly fish but could not image that it would be as amazing in person – but it exceeded my expectations. It was incredible! And just to be clear, despite saying that they are non-stinging, technically they do sting. But as their prey is the tiny phytoplankton, it really has no affect on humans. That said, the most sensitive of us did feel a little stinging from time to time as we swam with them. I have been lucky enough to have done a lot of pretty special things in my life, and this was right up there.

After this incredible experience, we headed back through the cave to the pontoon, and guess what, there were snacks and fresh coconuts ready for us. I do love this hospitality (and the snacks lol)

Back on the ship and we set sail south towards Indonesian waters which would take around 1.5 days. I took some time to do a bit of a room reset and do all my laundry. I am not sure how I would have coped with sharing a room as it is currently resembling a laundry room lol.

I also spent some time writing up the trip so far, and of course we had lectures on our coming visit to Indonesia. Our time in the Philippines was amazing, and we had such warm welcomes everywhere. We were also always gifted with a necklace of some kind, many with seeds and wood beads which I can’t take home but it is the thought that counts.

As we travelled south, there were a number of calls for whales, more often than not, by the time I got to the best viewing point, I did not get a good view but this time the captain turned the ship around so we could spend a bit more time with a pod of short-finned pilot whales which was awesome. (Just to clarify, there are several whales in this photo!)

Our first stop in Indonesia was Tangkoko Nature Reserve, an 8,700-hectare sanctuary in North Sulawesi and a chance to see some more unique wildlife. I was raring to get off the boat and explore.

We arrived via zodiac on the beach and set off in small groups with our local guide. The first thing he spotted was the vulnerable Sulawesi Bear Cuscus – an animal I had never heard of! As you may have guessed, it is not a bear, it is in fact an arboreal marsupial endemic to this part of Indonesia. It was named “bear” after its thick, dark, bear-like fur and it’s cute, bear like face. (That last bit is my opioion rather than fact lol.)

Next up was the incredible Knobbed hornbills. Our guide heard them and we charged through the forest (ignoring the monkeys that we would go back to) to find them. And find them we did. They are also known as the Sulawesi wrinkled hornbill – neither of these names give you any indication of the beauty of these birds!

They are endemic to Indonesia, found on only a few islands where here is elevated evergreen forest and we were so lucky to spot a pair high up in a tree. The stuck around long enough for us to get a great view with binoculars and camera zooms.

As we wandered back through the forest, we came across the monkeys again – this time, the critically endangered Sulawesi Crested Black Macaque. They did not sit still for long as they passed us along the track, going in the opposite direction to us.

The Crested Black Macaque’s claim to fame was as the star of the viral “selfie” of 2014, actually taken in this park by one of the macaques with a trial camera. It sparked a legal debate as to who owned the copyright to the photo – the person who owned the trail camera, or the monkey. I have included the photo here (so give credit to whomever credit is due – although it was ruled that the image was in the public domain so could be freely used).

I was then really excited to see another Tarsier. This time, a Spectral Tasier. Related of course to our tiny Phillipine version, but this time, endemic to a few Indonesian islands. Accordingly, to our guide, we were seeing a male, and inside the small hollow he was sitting outside, he could just see a female inside. I took his word for that lol.

It was a great walk, not too hot, not too hard and we spotted the ‘big 4” we had hoped to see. A “highly commendable” must also be given to the amazing trees we spotted along the way, including a huge ficus tree.

Back at the beach we were rewarded by … you guessed it, snacks! This time including some of my favourite fruit, mangosteen, snakeskin fruit and rambutan, and some freshly made pandan pancakes wrapped around a delicious coconut filling.

The wind picked up when we were back on the ship, so the afternoon’s snorkelling was a little choppy. This meant the visibilty was not great, but it was still nice to be out in the water. There were lots of little fish and we spotted what I called ‘fireflies’. Tiny iridescent dots of blue, or yellow or orange lighting up randomly. With thanks to by “boat bestie” who did some research, I now know that what we were seeing was tiny shrimp like animals called sea sapphires. They are translucent when they are not shining (and only the males shine) so it was impossible to get any photos of them!

We were now sailing through the land of FADs – fishing aggregation devices and had already snagged a couple along the way! I will probably go into these in more detail in another blog.

Bohol, you beauty

On July 21, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

The Philippines, July 2026

The beautiful sunset of the night before was matched only by the beautiful sunrise that followed it and it was a very short zodiac ride to the wharf in Baclayon on the island of Bohol in the Central Visayas.

Bohol is famous for a number of things and it is the Philippines first and only UNESCO Global Geopark. In our whistlestop visit, we were going to visit a number of its most important sites.

We had had a pretty early start, and once on shore, we jumped into minivans to go out of the city to our first stop, the Tarsier Sanctuary (a reasearch and protected breeding area, opearted by the Philippine Tarsier Foundation) by 7am.

If you are unfamiliar with a Tarsier, I beg of you, please watch this video (it is not only informative, but also funny) – True facts about the Tarsier .

If you prefer to read, Tarsiers are often referred to as the world’smallest monkey, however it is not actually a primate, but the more ancient Prosimian suborder. There are 4 species, found on different islands in Asia, and not surprisingly we were at the scantuary to see the Philippine Tarsier.

So, picture an animal that weighs around 120 grams, with a body standing around 100mm and a tail around 150-180mm long, acting as a 5^th limb (like monkeys). It has ears like a bat, eyes that take up about 60% of its face and a head that can rotate 180 degrees! Yes, it is super weird and so ugly it’s cute lol.

They are considered near theatren due to lose of habit, hunting, the ill-informed pet trade (they rarely survive long in captivity), and to stuff and sell! The Tasier Scantuary we were visiting was started the ‘Tarsier Man’, Carlito Pizarras, who used to hunt the creatures with his father, who was a taxidermist!

As a young man, he took it upon himself to understand the animals and eventually managed to breed them for reintrodcution to the wild and he was approached to start a government supported nonprofit conversation programme in 1997 – the Philippine Tarsier Foundation. He was in site when we visited so it was amazing to meet him in person.

Tarsiers are nocturnal which means when we were trying to spot them, they were trying to sleep! It actual helped, as the scantuary staff would head out early in the morning and locate the sleeping creatures so they could easier guide us to them.

It was clear we woke them, as the guides stuck our cameras/phones pretty close to them to get us the perfect photos, but despite their shy and nervous demeanour, this didn’t seem to bother them too much. Perhaps because they know they are safe here? It was incredible to see three of these little gremlins in their natural habitat … I do believe they were the inspiration for many movie creatures, including the gremlins and Yoda from Star Wars.

Next on my group’s tour of Bohol was one to the Philippine’s most famous sites, the Bohol Chocolate Hills. There are between 1260 and 1770 concical hills (called Conical karsts) in the area, ranging from 30-120m tall, which were formed by a combination of tectonic uplift of marine limestone and subsequent erosion and and dissolution of the limestone by rain.

During the dry season the grass covering the hills is brown, hence the name the Chocolate hills. As the rainy season has started, the hills were more matcha during my visit.

If you are into folklore, there are a couple of stories for the creation of the Chocolate Hills. The first is where two giants who hurled massive stones at each other, and when they made peace, they did not clear up the mess, leaving the thrown stones to form the hills. The second myth is that the hills are teardrops from a heartbroken giant who wept uncontrollably when his mortal love died. Believe which ever creation myth works for you!

Back in the bus we passed through small villages, farming areas and areas where they were building big solar farms. Apparently after the last big earthquake, they were without power for one month as they are currently dependant on another island for energy so are working on a way to produce enough renewal energy to power the island.

Most of the areas we passed through had good roads, decent housing and rice fields. Our guide told us that the community are responsible for keeping their towns clean, and each family provide a family member to help with the regular clean ups.

Our next stop was the Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape in the area of Bilar, and we were here to hopefully see the Colugo or Flying Lemur – FYI, it is not a lemur, and it does not fly lol. They are not even primates but are close relatives.

They live high in the trees and glide between trees, so we were lucky to spot a couple high up in the canopy.

We also saw a couple of Philippine long tail macaques, but it seems the staff in the ‘protected landscape’ feeds them, as they came right up to look in her hand! I was more excited to see Peace Lillys growing in their nature all habitat (which is clearly not my living room, though they seem to be happy enough there too)!

As we travelled to our final stop, a lovely river side resort, it started to rain, and by the time we arrived, the forecourt was already flooding in parts. The staff kindly held umbrellas over us as we waded through the water which I found amusing. And as always, food and drinks were put on for us to enjoy before we stepped back out into the torrential rain.

What was supposed to be a lovely river cruise turned into an adrenaline sport with the rain so hard it hurt and we were actually unable to look forward into the rain – I felt for the zodiac driver who had too, to make sure we didn’t run into the large restaurant river boats that we passed. The dry people on the boats waved and cheered as we speed passed them lol. (I tried to document the experience in photos but they just do not do the rain justice!)

I thought we could outrun the rain, but not today. My waterproof shoes were no good when the water goes into the top and then cannot get out, but surprisingly, my raincoat held up pretty well under the circumstances and I did actually have some dry patches (as did my waterproof bag).

After what seemed like an age, the ship appeared through the mist on the horizon, and it almost appeared dry! Rainstorms are often so localised here that could have been quite possible. By the time I was back on board and dry, the rain has stopped so I am sure people after me may have had a dry ride. What a fun way to end a wonderful morning

We spent the afternoon snorkelling off a small island called Balicasag (now formally in the Central Visayas). There were loads of fish and a few turtles, and lots of young Philippine people who appeared to point us in the right direction. I assume they were arranged for us, but you never can tell.

It was such a great day, and it ended with a Philippine themed dinner as we continued on south.

Samar Island – town and country

On July 19, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

The Philippines, July 2026

As we continued south through the Philippines, we left the large island of Luzon behind and reached the less visited Samar Island in the Eastern Visayas and the day started with the most beautiful sunrise.

We landed in Catbalogan City, a city with a population of just over 100,000 and it was an assault on my senses –commuter boats (which look like creepy insects to me), fishing boats (and the accompanying fish), the usual morning harbour sounds and of course, welcome music and dancing.

From the wharf, we were bundled into minibuses and whizzed off under police escort into the hills and the Samar Island Natural Park where I had opted for the nature walk. The park is a lowland forest reserve and home to the largest tract of relatively intact lowland forest in the Philippines.

Despite being home to a number of endemic species, I did not see much during my walk up the 1,200 steps, dotted with rest/viewing areas. Again, I think part of the problem was too many people and walking to fast, rarely taking time to stop and just be still. I did manage to spot a couple of birds, loads of beautiful butterflies and a little lizard and really enjoyed the walk in the relative cool of the forest.

After the walk, we were transferred to the visitors’ centre where we were greeted by some more beautiful dancing, this time, what I believe to be a dance that showcases the Philippine Eagle and the other bird life of the natural park.

There was also a huge spread of local food, and …. free massages and even more dancing! The welcomes we are getting are just getting bigger and bigger!

Back down in to the hustle and bustle of Catbalogan city (population of around 107,000) and we had a little time to wander around the harbour area. One of the few downsides of a trip like this, is that there is little time just to wander and absorb the local atmosphere so it was nice to get a little time to do that here. I might note the dances that meet us this morning were still on the wharf to dance us off as well!

We spent the afternoon sailing past beautiful, mountainous islands and I spent most of the time out on the deck as one of the aircon units was broken so it was pretty warm inside! To help with this, slushies were provided – I may have enjoyed the vodka and orange slushies a little too much lol.

Too many slushies meant I missed the lecture on fishing in the Philippines, but I did go to one about ex-President Ferdinand Marcos, given by Stella, an expedition crew member who was there, on the streets, when it was all happening.

In summary, Ferdinand Marco was President of the Philippines from 1965 until 1986 when he was deposed by the People Power Revolution. From 1972 to 1981 he ruled under martial law when many people when arrested for speaking out against him, including the opposition leader, Ninoy Aquino, who was eventually assassinated.

And if you don’t know about him, you may know about his beautiful wife, Emelda who had thousands of pairs of designer shoes. Or perhaps his son Bongbong, who is the current President of the Philippines!

Yet another beautiful sunset ended the day, before a hot and sweaty night as the air con was still not fixed. It is crazy when you have to open doors to let in air when it is a humid 30+C outside! Sadly my cabin has no windows (actually I only have port holes) that can be open – just a little fan to circulate the warm air.

Bat caves & corpse flowers – Philippine exploration continues

On July 12, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Polillo Islands & Caramoan Peninsula, The Philippines

June 2026

Our next stop was Patnanongan Island, the largest island of the Polillo archipelago group of 24 islands and islets and it was an overcast morning as we moored off the coast.

What was supposed to be an earlier morning start turned into a very slow one as we waited for officialdom to take place. Every stop we make, requires the local officials to come on board before we can disembark to do anything! At least all the waiting around meant the rain had cleared for the time being.

We are very much the centre of attention wherever we stop, with locals coming out in their boats to take photos of us, taking photos of them lol. I must admit, I like that the photo taking now goes both ways.

Finally through the formalities, we jumped into the Zodiacs to head to our landing point and in the choppy seas we all got soaked in the crossing to the coast, but then it was much calmer as we zipped through the narrow channels of the mangroves to our landing point.

From the Zodiac we transferred to the local transport – here it was a Habal Habal, which is basically just a motorbike taxi. Everyone and anyone with a motorbike had shown up to shuttle us from our landing point, down the narrow concrete “road” into the village hall where we were greeted by a hoard of local tourism board employees, fresh coconuts, music, dancing and request for selfies. I think they were taking more photos of us, than we were of them.

The downside in being in one of the first boats is that we have to wait for everyone else to arrive before the formalities started, but on the other side it gave us time to wander around the small community and chat to some of the people. It seemed the whole town was out to greet us (that will be a recurring theme)!

After the dancing and speeches, we jumped back on our Habal Habals. Initially the plan was that we would find the same driver, I managed to do that as I was one of the early ones, but as people were trying to find their drivers it started to rain and the ‘organisation’ turned into chaos lol. I was still already damp from the zodiac ride so didn’t even bother put my coat on!

We continued down the concrete path, until that turned into a dirt path and then in to little more than a mud track through the jungle which took us to our destination – a cave complex. Disorganistion continued as some people got hard hats, some didn’t have torches and everyone was trying to shelter from the rain and finally I managed to find my way into a group that entered a cave full of bats and giant Cave Wolf spiders. Not everyone’s idea of a good day out, but I loved it.

Sadly, there were no great photos of the bats (as it was dark lol) but I did take a video. I didn’t realise just how many bats were flying around us until I watched it back. I do have a great photo of a Philippine Sheath tailed bat from a lovely boat friend (also called Elaine, and we are basically the same person lol).

By the time we exited the caves, the rain had subsided and after a quick snack of boiled banana we were back on the bikes (the plan to stay with your same driver had gone out the window), zipping back through the slight more muddy and changing dirty tracks and back on the concrete path, down to another town, Sinintan, with more music and dancing and speeches!

So many more selfies and fist bumps with the children as we made our way to the zodiacs and back to the ship to dry off and have lunch. It is nice to see the excitement our visits bring to the small towns we visit, particularly with the children (who seem to have time off school to see us). We are most definitely the spectacle!

This afternoon was our first snorkel opportunity, and I almost didn’t go as it was overcast and let’s be honest, I could not be bothered! But at the last minute I changed my mind, got changed, grabbed my gear and jumped in the last boat to the beach on Anilon Island. I am so glad I did as the water was warm and were lots of fish to see. I am also very glad that technology geotags photos taken on my phone, so I know the names of places I have visited!

Again, the local tourism board staff had arrived at the beach earlier and set up shelters and were walking around with snacks (snacks in this part of the world are next level – particularly if you like things made with coconut and glutinous rice, which I do!).

We are now in the Coral Triangle, an area approximately 6 million km sq that spans across the Indonesian-Philippines region and across to the far southwestern Pacifc region and contains more coral reef species than anywhere else in the world. It is recognised as a global epicentre of marine biodiversity. With that said, I hope for lots of great snorkelling in my future. (Map from WWF). get map from photos (credit WWF)

The day ended with a beautiful sunset

As always, we travelled overnight, and the next day we awoke near the Caramoan Peninsula. It was another beautiful morning as we moored off the jungle capped towering limestone cliffs, dotted with stunning palm lined beaches.

The area is the location for filming of a number Survivor shows and as filming was currently taking place, we were limited to where we could explore. I thought it would be hilarious to walk through the filming of a scene that is supposed to be completely isolated – until a bunch of tourists trek through lol. Sadly, that was not to be.

I had opted to go on the ‘long’ walk, approximately 4km long but with some altitude and scrambles so it was a little more adventurous. The adventure had started before we even got to the beach, with my zodiac having to return to the ship before we even made it to the beach to pick up a late comer! Then, the zodiac broken down and we had to swap mid ocean to another one, which thankfully was close at hand. All part of the fun, I guess.

It was a lovely walk, though a very sweaty one. Through jungle with trees growing straight out of the limestone rocks and then through a farm, right in the middle of the jungle where they were working the rice paddies with water buffalo (the national animal of the Philippines), and then on through coconut plantations.

The highlight for me was some beautiful dragonflies and two carnivorous corpse plants in flower. They rarely flower and people queue to see them in flower in botanic gardens around the world – and here were two! They are called ‘corpse’ flowers as they have a pungent odour, but I did not get close enough to smell them!

At the end of the walk we ended up on another beautiful beach from which we were transferred to yet another beautiful beach where there was a resort who had put on a huge spread, including a suckling pig or lechon (which was delicious). Apparently, the resort is only in existance because of the TV filming, but it is such a beautiful spot, surrounded by beautiful bays and water. (How many times can I use ‘beautiful’ in one paragraph? Time will tell.

In the afternoon we had a zodiac to zodiac snorkel, which always tend to be in deeper water. There was a lot of sea grass and not so much coral, but it was still very enjoyable and the water was so warm. Great for me, maybe not so much for the planet!

As the we set off for our evening sail, we passed Mt Mayon (an active volcano) in the distance and dolphins same in our wake as the sun set beautifully in the distance.

What a welcome to the Philippines

On July 9, 2026July 9, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Calayan Islands & Divilacan Bay, Philippines

June 2026

As I didn’t close my curtains, I woke to sun streaming in my porthole. I jumped out of bed and headed up stairs (I am on deck 3, the gym is on deck 7 – some might say it is a workout just getting to the gym lol). I just did 30 minutes of cardio this morning as other things seemed way more challenging with the movement of the boat.

I also wasn’t feeling 100% – was it the movement of the boat, not enough water, all the food I have been eating or perhaps too much wine last night. May a combination of all of these. Either way, after an early breakfast I went back to bed lol. We don’t reach our destination today till around lunchtime, so the morning was going to be a slow one anyway.

I had also already decided I was not going to have dinner (which does not start till 7.30 tonight) so started squirrelling away a little food so I had something to eat. Dinner is wonderful if you want 3 course affairs with wine, but I definitely don’t want that every day, particularly when it starts so late (for me anyway)!

Our first destination in the Philippines was the island of Calayan. One of the Philippines northern most islands. Officially know as the Republic of the Philippines, the country is made up of over 7,500 islands and has a population of over 114 million people! Hard to believe as we are going to be avoiding the desensly populated places on this trip. I had applied for the visa online and thankfully the ships crew did all the rest of the formalities for us.

The Philippine population is a mix over the years of the early Negritos, Austronesians, Chinese, Spanish (who colonised in 1543 and named the country Las Islas Filipinas after King Philip II of Spain). More modern history saw the Japanese invasion during WWII, liberation by the Americans, and finally independence in 1946.

Calayan Island sits in the Luzon Strait and is in the Babuyam group of islands and I was excited to get out on the zodiacs and on to land.

As in most places where we are travelling away from the landing point, we travel by the best available transport. In Poblacion, this was motorbikes with small “side cars” attached. I used the word “side car” loosely as it was not much more than a shelf with a plank to sit on. Call it what you will, it was great fun wizzing out of town, down the concrete road and out in to the countryside.

I had opted for the nature walk, more of a nature march as we were a fairly large group, moving rather fast and loudly so most wildlife had long gone before we had a chance to spot it!

We did spot an ants nest made of leaves stitched together, huge black and yellow butterflies, beautiful red dragonflies and a tiny sunbird (apparently a purple throated one). We also saw a very old Narra Tree, the Philippine National tree. Often cut for wood, so you don’t often see one this large.

I didn’t get many photos, but it was lovely to be off the ship!

We jumped back into the side cars and headed back down to town where the town had put on a spread of local snacks, had a band playing and put on a show of one of their local dances, showing the fight between good and evil. It seems the whole town had come out for the event (though I think our visit was the event)! I love it that now days, it is not just us taking photos of the locals, they are taking videos and photos of us!

As we were on land a bunch of the local kids where on the ship enjoying ice cream served by the captain. A zodiac that takes about 10 of ‘us’, took around 20 of them and they all seemed very excited to be aboard.

Back on the ship, we had now settled into the routine, often with a late afternoon lecture and then the briefing about the day we had had, as well as what was waiting for us in our next port of call. These briefings are best when accompanied by a gin and tonic from the bar!

Travelling overnight as we normally do, we woke the next day in Divilacan Bay in the northeast of Luzon, the Philippines’ largest island. We were near the Sierra Madre mountain range which stretches 540 km along the eastern coast of Luzon and acts as a natural barrier from the east coast to the hugely populated capital city of Manila just on the other side of the ranges.

On the eastern side (where we were) the protected forests run from the mountains to the sea and has few roads or any other forms of transfer other than boats. (Though I learnt in a conversation with some of the many tourism staff who are everywhere we go, that there is a road under construction, though it will still take at least 4 hours to get here from the nearest large city).

Our first activity was a zodiac cruise around the coastline and mangroves. Incredible big sky and glistening blue ocean. Unfortunately, the tides were against us, and my group did not get much of a mangrove cruise as the water was too shallow (some of the earlier zodiacs had to row out), so we were some of the first to land at the first village we were going to be visiting.

As with every visit we were to make in the Philippines, we were welcomed with a rosette of some kind and a large sign welcoming us and the ship. This village was different though, as the people who live in this area are the Dumagat people, also known as Agta, the indigenous Negrito group of the Philippines. There darker skin and curly hair makes them more akin to their Aboringine or Austronesians roots rather than other people we see in the Philippines.

They welcomed us with dances depicting their daily lives, including fishing, crab hunting, farming and pig hunting (thankfully the poor little pig at the centre of that dance was not hurt!).

From our first landing point, we walked a short distance and emerged in to a much bigger and more modern village of Dimasalansan, where we were welcomed with fresh coconuts and another huge spread of local snacks including sea snails (which I did not try) and my favourite gluttonous rice cake things.

There was also more formalities and dancing, this time including an audience participation ‘solidarity’ Dance. It was interesting to see both communities participating here and apparently their integrate well and the Dumagat children come here to go to school.

Back out to the ship for a relaxed afternoon at sea and a lecture on sea birds of the area as we continued on south.

Taroko National Park & Marble Gorge

On July 7, 2026July 7, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Taiwan, June 2026

After a decent nights sleep, being lulled by the gentle rocking of the ship I was up early to hit the gym. Given that I always eat way too much on these trips, I am trying to keep some balance by going to the gym most days. (We will see how long that lasts!)

Thankfully, the ship also has an earlier riser breakfast (not all the fancy cooked food, but fruits and muesli which is enough) which means I can also enjoy a coffee and breakfast early. This morning it was as we pulled in to the Taiwanese port of Hualien.

Hualien (Taiwn’s second largest city) appears to be a relatively major port for cruise ships, and we had to go through customs like we were arriving in Taiwan for the first time – which maybe the case for some cruises. We were also all gifted with a box of tea, which I guess I will either have to use before we get to Australia, or give away!

Once the formalities were complete, we were back on a bus and off to Taroko National Park and the famous Marble Gorge. Despite the rain and grey sky, the lush green mountainsides were still beautiful.

We learnt a little about the indigenous tribes of Taiwan, astronesians who spread across the Pacific, but 16 tribes remained in Taiwan. Each leave on a different mountain and speak a different language. I found this fascinating and wish I have time to dive more deeply into these cultures.

2 years ago, the area suffered a huge earthquake, which caused significant damage to the gorge and its surrounds. There is still some obvious damage and a lot of strengthening works going on. The road into the gorge is also now only one way in parts, so we needed to adhere to strict timings to ensure we could get in and out in the allocated time windows.

Our first stop was a photo stop at the Taroko Arch for a photo opportunity before heading into the Visitor Centre. I was a great source of information and included a video about earthquake and typhoon damage the area (including the cross-island highway) has sustained recently.

Back on bus and we made our way into the gorge where in some places, the marble walls are 300m high, soaring over the valley floor and the Liwu River. By the time we reached out stopping point the sun was out and it was a beautiful day. (We had been told that the sun was always shining in the gorge and they were right!)

The Xiangde Temple was built in the 1960’s as part of the construction of the cross-island highway and it sits high above the valley. The many steps to get up to the pagoda was the first test to show the mobility of the people on the trip (most who are significantly older than me, and I am old!)

We had some time to explore the temple and surrounds and enjoy the antics of the local top of Formosa Rock Macaques. Also know as the Taiwanese macaque, they are endemic to Taiwan (but have also been introduced to Japan) and are the only native primate in the country (besides humans).

We drove back through the gorge, and back to the port, where we officially exited Taiwan, got heat scanned by Philippine officials and the set sail. As we had an afternoon at sea, I settled in to ship life and the lectures started.

The first being on Astronesians and their expansion across the Pacific. I must admit I am pretty ignorant when it comes to these people, so it was fascinating to learn that most Polynesians are linked back to these early people from Taiwan.

The term Astronesians actually refers to a family of languages (over 1,200 languages), as well as the seafaring people who speak them. They stretch from Madagascar to Easter Island and everywhere in between and it is believed that they originated in Taiwan around 5-6,000 years ago.

Using outrigger canoes and using the stars to guide them, they carried out one of the greatest migrations in human history settling all across the Pacific (with the exclusion of Australia which was already populated)! People from Maritime and parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, New Guinea, Melanesia, Polynesia (including New Zealand) and Madagascar can all trace their roots back to these great seafarers, as well as ethnic minorities from countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia etc.

As the afternoon continued, we sailed down the coast of Taiwan (I had no idea the country was so mountainous) as we had future lectures, followed by the Captain’s welcome drinks and an introduction to ship’s crew (we had met the expedition crew the night before).

I was settling in to life on board and eating too much! A big dinner welcome dinner and too much wine did not help!

Old rocks & old streets

On July 3, 2026 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

Taiwan, June 2026

No change to my normal routine, so I was early to breakfast and then took a short walk to get coffee. It was raining and not to hot and beautiful walk through a lovely park. I also stopped off at 7/11 to get a few snacks for my room on the ship (not that they would really be needed as there is always so much food). Now my official trip has started, I can switch my brain off and just follow instructions (I am very good at that lol).

We started the day with a bus tour out of the city. I struggled to understand a lot of what our local guide was saying but I enjoyed the views as we left the city behind and drove in to the lush green bush covered hills and after passing through a small town with narrow streets lined with seafood restaurants with fish, crabs and other sea creatures in tanks, we arrived at our first stop – Yehliu Geopark on the northern coast of Taiwan. World famous for its eroded rock formations caused by the sea erosion and weathering of the sandstone and limestone in the area.

I decided to ditch the group, with the guide I could not hear and wandered around by myself. The most famous of the features is the Queen’s Head. She is so famous in fact, people queue to have their photo taken with her. Of course, I did not, but I did get a sneaky photo from afar without too many other people in it. You definitely need some imagination to see some of the figures but it was still very cool to see.

At the end of the park we were funneled through the souvenir stalls (with lots of dried seafood ) before we could get back on the bus for the 45 minute drive to our next stop at the historic mining town of Jiufen. The town boomed and busted based on gold mining, but was reintroduced to the world in the 1980’s when a movie was filmed here (“A City of Sadness”).

The narrow Juifen Old Street winds up a step staircase and down narrow side streets, lined red lanterns and with small shops selling souvenirs and traditional snacks and food. This was also our lunch break but rather than sit and wait for food, I went off exploring (I am definitely “that” person again)!

I tried some locally famous taro balls, they could be cold or hot but I opted for cold, as the sellers said it was their favourite (turns out it was just the hot ones covered with ice lol). It seemed like they were mixed with beans hich was a littl odd but the Taro balls themselves were tasty.

I also tried some delicious local fruit wine, lychee and apple, and an amazing mango cream cheese mochi. Sadly my purchasing was limited as most places only took cash and I was almost out! It was probably not a bad thing.

I wound my way through the narrow streeets lined with shops and ended up getting a little lost, but I just kept going down the hill (as the bus park was below the town). I have to admit I was not massively happy with some of my choices as I found myself walking down the narrow street with no footpath and big buses coming passed…. But I got there in the end and enjoyed the beautiful view out to the coast now that the cloud had cleared a little.

Back on the bus and we carried on through the windy, narrow mountain roads to our final stop for the say, Shifen Old Street. Another historic old town, this one with an active train line running through it. The draw here is for people to release sky lanterns.

You write your wishes on the laterns which are about 80cm tall and then release them from the rail tracks (with everyone having to scramble off each time a train came through – which happened twice in the short time we were there).

Apparently people get paid TWD10 (about NZD0.55) per lantern if they collect them where they fall and return them but we did see main littering the mountain side and in the river so I decided not to do one. There were certainly enough going up without me needing to be involved and I was happy taking photos.

Again most of the shops only take cash so not shopping for me. Thankfully I did have enough to try the local peanut roll ice cream. I opted to have it without the cilantro (which seemed an odd combination to me) and it was pretty tasty.

Back on the bus for the last time today, and we were off to the port of Keelung where we boarded the Heritage Adventurer, my home for the next 18 days. It is my second time on the ship and I was excited to see a couple of expedition crew members who I remember from my last trip, including my favourite naturalist.

I had booked the cheapest cabin (still not cheap) which was a lower level, triple share room – and luck was with me and I have it all to myself! What a great start to the trip. It was great to be able to unpack and get settled in before being interrupted by ship formalities – a life boat drill, welcome drinks and then a first briefing which included an introduction to the expedition crew and a briefing for tomorrow as we set sail out of the harbour and out on our adventure.