CanKata

CanKata

Thursday, August 14, 2014

CanKata's Journey - A Summary (2008)

Continuation ...



2008


While waiting for the hurricane season to end we repowered CanKata with new engines and saildrives and toured Australia. In March we left Southport and sailed up the East coast of Australia with stops at eleven islands (Wavebreak, Morton, Tangalooma, Fraser, Lady Musgrave, Great Keppel, Percy Middle, Thomas, Lizard, Morris, and Night), through the Barrier Reef and up over the top to Darwin. From there we joined the Sail Indonesia Rally and took three months to sail through Indonesia (Timur, Alor, Lapang, Kroka, Besar, Flores, Sababi, Rinca, Kellog, Komodo, Banta, Sumbawa, Medang, Gili Air, Lombok, Bali, Java, Borneo, Belitung and Kentar). After Indonesia we sailed on to Singapore and up the Malacca Straight along the West coast of Malaysia with stops at Besar, Pangkor, Penang and Langkawi.

 



One of the new Yanmars safely on board




We spent a long time in the well-protected Bums Bay, Gold Coast

How handy - a floating store


CanKata in shallow water, Bums Bay

Our first intentional beaching to do some maintenance

With its reflextion, this rainbow formed a complete circle.

A magnificent sunset in Bums Bay.

 
We spent a weekend with friends at an avocado farm.

Burleigh Heads, Australia

Sledding on sand dunes

Not a good anchorage

Wallaby and joey


There were so many long, sandy beaches in Australia

Bums Bay from our mast (thanks Nancy)

Wrecks used as a break-wall

Soooooo much sand

View from the top of the dune

Anchoring in a city centre (Mooloolaba)

CanKata and buddy boat Daedalus

A comfy beach seat


Bad weather pushing us north

Exploring beaches with Daedalus

Examining the shells

A good landing and the only dinghy there

Relaxing on the foredeck - sundowner time

Continuing to head north

Daedalus and CanKata


Daedalus at sunset


A not-so-comfy beach seat

Anchorage at Lizard Island


Cook's Look, Lizard Island

Buddy boat Nemo at sunset

Exploring some caves

Exploring an island with Nemo

A familiar sight at this point in our journey - crocodile warnings.

Continuing to head north

A termite mound and our anchorage - Cape York


Northernmost point of Australia - Cape York - with Nemo

The calm anchorage of Fannie Bay, Darwin

The weekly market, close to our anchorage at Fannie Bay

Waiting to view the sunset

The second time we enjoyed multi-didgeridoo playing



Close-up view of a crocodile at Kakadu National Park near Darwin

Sundowners with other rally members in Darwin


Our new spinnaker

 
Raising anchor, heading for Indonesia with the rally
 
Checking out the crowded anchorage at our first stop in Indonesia


The villagers in Indonesia were always very welcoming

The children in Indonesia were always very curious

Officials in Indonesia liked to make a fuss over us
The traditional dress was beautiful.

Schools loved it when we visited.

The markets were colourful.

Lots of fresh veg available.

A village elder.

An Indonesian beach


A rally boat sailing past a rugged Indonesian coastline.

An Indonesian village

A packed bus!

 
Students visiting a crater lake.

Rice paddies


A village welcome ceremony

Officials doing their bit to make us feel welcome in Indonesia


A boat arrives with two racing boats

The race is nearly on, with CanKata in the background
Rally boats' tenders on the beach for the race

There was a lot of burning going on in Indonesia

Friends rowing home after a day of exploring


A komodo dragon

Darrel keeping his distance from a komodo dragon

Securing the dinghy ... looks like a storm coming


Some warriors put on a show for us




These students sang for us
 
It was the dry season in Indonesia. Obviously.

Bone dry.
The local boats are colourful

How could anyone resist this invitation?

A "taxi" on a small island

Contrasts

I think this monkey would have preferred a banana

The beginning of a gazillion temple tours


We should have kept track of the number of stairs we climbed


Darrel gave the "thank you" speach at Lovina, Bali, Indonesia

We toured a water temple at Bali

We saw a water-buffalo race



We went to Yogyakarta and had multiple transportation choices

A batik artisan

Touring Borobudur

At Borobudur

We should have counted the steps!

The view from Borobudur


Touring Prambanan, Yogyakarta
 
Darrel and our friend Ken on a river tour to see the orangutans

Where we ate and slept

Protected orangutans in a sanctuary



 
Another beautiful welcome ceremony

A dancer and very appreciative audience

We eventually braved buying a chicken from a market
The way sailors visit

Rally boats' tenders on the beach at Belitung, Indonesia

A friendly welcome at Belitung

The welcoming ceremony at Belitung

Welcoming ceremony

Miss Belitung and runner-up
Entertainers at a village festival

More entertainers

Villagers enjoying the festival

All dressed up for the festival

Fruit for an offering

Finally! Rain!

Time to head on. This is at the equator.
Crossing the shipping channel, heading to Malaysia

All of a sudden, traffic and commerce!

The rich have some nice property in Malaysia



Johor Bahru was an attractive city

Merlion at Singapore

The Singapore Flyer

Petronas towers at Kuala Lumpur

Beautiful pink Melaka

At a turtle sanctuary, hoping the released babies survive

Students enjoying a visit to ruins

At a boat-building site

Malaysia attracts many tourists from other Muslim countries


A well-kept mosque

Varied architecture in Penang, Malaysia

At a lighthouse in Penang

A temple in Penang

A beach in Langkawi, Malaysia


On the cable car in Langkawi (our anchorage below)

Christmas with friends on the beach in Telaga Harbour, Langkawi

CanKata in Telaga haarbour

A beautiful sunset to end the year (Telaga Harbour, 2008)

Continued in next blog entry ...