13 November 2015

We left Alotau four days ago on the 10th of November at sunrise. Time is flying by, before you know it my time here will be up. Since leaving we've slowly been moving out of Milne Bay towards East Cape, Papua New Guinea's most eastern point on the northern shore at the entrance to the bay. 
We picked up several new people in Alotau who have joined the boat, some for the next few weeks others for a longer trip to the Philippines. There's Fin and Tom from Germany, Manuel from France, Anna from Switzerland, George from the Netherlands, Oscar from the UK, Sam from Australia and Katie from the States, but who lives in New Zealand. All of these guys and girls are super excited to be on board and to get out into the middle of nowhere. 

 
We spent two days at the uninhabited Haro Wani Island, very close to the northern shore. It was a picturesque setting, the water went from deep dark blue into torques and then into very light blue and up out of the water to a white sandy beach. A small coral reef surrounded the island which we dived on a couple of times. 
On our second and last evening their a group of us went and hand a bonfire on the beach which we cooked dinner on. Away from the lights of Alotau the stars shone out brightly, standing there looking up at them with nothing but the flickering flames lighting the beech I wondered how many people had stood in this spot and done exactly that. 
The island wasn't always uninhabited, a short walk through the jungle revealed at least five grave stones,  not much further and the remains of what according to locals was once a missionary’s house. The roof is missing and the branches and roots of trees have grown over and through it. It's quite incredible how the jungle takes reclaims buildings and ruins. I was reminded of the Japanese ruins on Tonowas island in Truk Lagoon last December. Time has worn away at the stones themselves which guard the secrete names of their inhabitants, I wonder who they were? What there names were? How they came to be buried in this beautiful spot. 

On the morning of the 12th of November at 4 am we raised anchor and continued east 12 miles to Dana Gedu Reef where we stayed for the day. After a early morning dive with Menno, Oscar, Fin and Sam we spent the day chilling. We did another dive that afternoon, the reefs are full of fish big and small. I'm working on my photography, shooting above the water in manual mode on my camera is helping me get better shots beneath the waves. 
Before the sun went down the that evening we moved again, to the north point of the same reef, very close to East Cape. From here we'll continue to the Conflict and Engineers groups of islands then turn north towards the Trobriand Islands, famous for their detailed wood carvings and diving. Things are good, we're cruising.