- Fremantle and Perth, Western Australia
- On the road to Margaret River, Western Australia
- Rottnest Island, Western Australia
- Back to Broome, Western Australia
- Lacepede Island, Western Australia
- Talbot Bay, Western Australia
- Montgomery Reef and Freshwater Cove, Western Australia
- Hunter River and Mitchell Falls, Western Australia
- Ashmore Reef, Australia
- Vansittart Bay, Western Australia
- King George River, Western Australia
- Darwin, Northern Territory
- Agats, West Papua, Indonesia
- Kokas, West Papua, Indonesia
- Misool, Yapap Lagoon, Indonesia
- Yenwaupnor, Gam Island, Indonesia
- Mansinam Island, West Papua, Indonesia
- Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia
- Cenderwasih Bay, Indonesia Supplemental
- Vanimo, Papua New Guinea
- Garove Island, Papua New Guinea
- Duke of York Island and Rabaul, Papua New Guinea — and the trip takes a turn for the worse
- Ghizo Island, Solomon Islands and my health situation is still uncertain
- Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; a 72-hour pause in our trip; and a triumphant return!
- Dravuni Island, Kadavu, Fiji
- Vulaga, Fiji
- Pangai and Nukupule Island, Ha’Apai Group, Tonga
- Vavau, Tonga
- Apia, Upolo, Samoa
- Aitutaki, Cook Islands
- Raiatea, Society Islands, French Polynesia
- Maroe Bay, Huahine Iti, French Polynesia
- Bora Bora, French Polynesia and end of trip
Today, we took a break from the Kimberley Coast to head out to Ashmore Reef, an uninhabited grouping of four low-lying islands at the edge of the continental shelf. It’s actually closer to Indonesia that it is to Australia. Today, it is a nature reserve, but occasional traditional fishing boats from Indonesia come here to fish under a longstanding agreement with the Australian government. In fact, Australia is responsible for the defense of these islands and, to that point there was an Australian Border Force vessel watching our movements today (apparently this vessel is stationed off the reef for up to 300 days per year!). But we were here to explore one of the most vibrant ecosystems the the world — both above and below the water. Today, Deb and I split forces; she took the surface and I took the subsurface. For the “above” portion, there are over 100,000 breeding birds that pass through here. The highlights of her trip was a number of Noddy’s and Brown Boobies as well as a couple of turtles mating. You always think of sea turtles as slow and floaty, but a video she took will convince you otherwise. As I noted, this reef is the edge of the continental shelf, so the reef starts at about 45 feet below the surface and rapidly dropping off to more than 1500 feet. I did a snorkel around the reef. It was nothing short of spectacular! The colors were stunning and I don’t I’ve never seen as many hard and soft corals in one place. Sadly, my camera housing didn’t work as advertised and I actually had to pull it apart and put back together again in the open water. Consequently, I didn’t get some of the shots/videos that I had hoped for. Ah well, there will be more opportunities before the trip is done.
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
