Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We left Port Douglas and continued our journey up through the Great Barrier Reef passing the Mouth of the Endeavour river, where James Cook beached his ship for repairs after hitting the reef. Then onto the northern tip of Australia, Cape York, and turning north west into the Torres Strait. Here our Great Barrier Reef pilot, who had given us very interesting information on the islands etc. of the reef, disembarked off Booby Island.
The following day was spent sailing across the Arafura Sea, a shallow tropical sea which is rich in marine life. Hence we saw many fishing boats. In the afternoon we passed the Papua New Guinea island of Kolepan on our starboard side. Next morning we entered the Banda Sea and by the afternoon we passed through Selat Manipa, the strait between the islands of Pulau Manipa and Palau Burundi and entered the Molucca Sea. This sea is within the country of Indonesia and therefore surrounded by many Indonesian Islands.
We continued across the Moluccan Sea, crossing the Equator and re-entering the Northern Hemisphere the following morning. In the afternoon we passed through the Bangka Passage, between the Indonesian Islands of Sulawesi and Biara, and headed north westerly across the Celebes Sea. This sea harbors many species of reef-building corals and much marine life including whales and dolphins, sea turtles and marlin. However we only saw a few dolphins.
During breakfast the next day we passed through the Basilian Strait between Basilan and Mindanao islands into the Sulu Sea. These islands lie in the Sulu Archipeligo in the south west of the Philippines. We crossed the Sulu Sea to the Balabac Strait passing the Island of Palawan, on our starboard side and South of the Philippines, late at night.
In the morning we entered the South China Sea, sailed parallel to the coast of Sabah, Malaysia and entered the bay of Teluk Gaya into the port of Kota Kinabalu.
- comments
Ant Hope there's not going to be a test on all these islands and seas names, especially if we have to pronounce them! Keep having fun.