- 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
We spent the last 1.5 days in Darwin, Northern Territory to let some passengers off, pick up some new ones, and re-provision. We were sad to see some new friends and expedition team leave but hope to see them again. The last time we were in Darwin was in 2008 and the city was almost unrecognizable to us. The port area is completely new with apartments, entertainment zones, etc. and there are high rises popping up everywhere. There is a lot of new economic development going on here (especially in the natural resources area), but they are also trying to promote more tourism. As with the last time we were here, there were all sorts of exotic birds wandering around the city, creating a cacophony of sound. They are also promoting a mural effort on buildings. We expected to see mostly Aboriginal subjects, but we turned the corner and saw a Catrina! It’s a little far from Mexico! For our purposes, we needed to do some shopping and headed up to the popular outdoor mall area. If they want to increase tourism, they are probably going to have to up their game a bit here. For example, Deb was looking for a dressy pair of sandals. In this city of 150,000 people there is ONE shoe store (and it wasn’t really a shoe store — just a general clothing store with a small supply of shoes). Anyway, we got our shopping done and enjoyed a wonderful dinner on the water. Deb had kangaroo and it was wonderful!
The next day we visited the Territory Wildlife Park, about an hour outside of Darwin. This is one of the more interesting wildlife parks I have ever been to. In addition to being a zoological park, it’s also a center for conservation, research, and education. It doesn’t really seem to be aimed at tourists. Instead, they are trying to educate the local population and have them become advocates for conservation programs they feel are needed in the Northern Territory. The park is set up to maximize authentic wildlife encounters with the myriad of animals that are there and also try to recreate habitat environments that are representative of the different regions of the “Top End.” We got to play with wallabies and watched to staff engage with all sorts of animals including a number of raptors and even whiprays, which are a form of freshwater stingray (I didn’t even know there was such thing!). Anyway, it was an enjoyable time and we are now heading to Indonesia.
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.
