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  • Powell Ettinger
  • Powell Ettinger

Seychonesia

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  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Desert island

    October 12, 2025 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Actually not a desert island at all. Very lush.

    A little choppy and strong current but excellent snorkeling - very good coral. Plenty o fish although nothing large. A turtle was glimpsed but not by me.

    Walked round the island too. 1 km walkway. Very lush. If you were stranded here you could survive but you would need to like coconut and fish.

    Devin, the kayak guide with a funky hat, asked me if I am an airline pilot! I had sent him a Whatsapp and he took the photo seriously. Looks more like ship's captain anyway?    Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger
    1

    No snorkeling till Panama

    October 13, 2025 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Liki Island. 31 degrees at 08.00.

    Remote and rarely visited, Liki is our last expedition stop in Indonesia. Very different feel here. Locals accepting rather than welcoming.

    Individually welcomed by chief, who puts a little sand on your forehead ( all visitors come from the sea, and you have to cross the beach), there was a quick speech but asked not to wander around the village. Locals pretty much indifferent to us and kids run away rather than ask for photo.

    Only 65 families live on the island. Very Papuan looking - unsurprisingly.

    Sea quite strong on beach, zodiac operations a little interesting. Perfect lagoon for villages to keep boats.

    Snorkeling ok, a little unclear and not so many fish as yesterday. Yuri Zodiac driver took us to cave no one else saw, and journey back flat out, with big chicane on arrival to beach. Worth the entrance money on its own.

    No more snorkeling until Panama.    Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Lake Sentani

    October 14, 2025 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Moored in Jayapura, last stop in Indonesia. Ashore to buses for 1 hour drive - for some reason with a police escort. Cushy job but sadly no blue lights.

    KFC, Pizza Hut and Dunkin Donuts all spotted, no big Mac though.

    Sentani tribe live on island connected by wooden boardwalk. Tuned in to tourism here, 4 separate bands, some sago production and half a dozen ladies selling stuff.

    Plenty of song and dance, bought an axe head and two dugout canoe models (or peanut dispensers as Caroline calls them.

    One lady feinted in the heat but seemed to be ok. Was carried back to bus sitting in carved wooden chair like a queen.

    Usman our guide counted to 10 for us in Bahassa. But started in English.

    Sago production. Sago palm tree chopped down and inners chopped/scraped out. Pulp then squeezed through gauze or similar to collect the juice stuff. Assume this is then boiled into the unappetizing goo that is served with fish and veggies.    Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Number 86

    October 14, 2025 in Papua New Guinea ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    PNG - First glimpse at Vanimo. Paperwork and customs.

    Logging operation here, logs being loaded onto Seabrave ship, bulk carrier.

    Boat rocking quite wildly at anchor, most movement of whole cruise. Fortunately Caroline got some patches from nice Kiwis.Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Sepik

    October 15, 2025 in Papua New Guinea ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Arrived in the spectacular mouth of the sepik river, fast flowing and with small volcano islands off shore.

    Visit village of Kopa, first village near mouth. A melange of tribes awaiting, some had travelled 8 hours, (or two days depending on who you believe) to join us. Half a dozen dances from various groups and around 20 market stalls set up.

    Bought a good carving and 2 penis gourds, hoho.

    Quick zodiac ride down river, a few birds and a large Chinese logging barge🤦    Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Madang

    October 16, 2025 in Papua New Guinea ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Arrived in Madang. Mostly very pretty port. Looking across harbour to airport but no signs of any planes yet😱

    Lady on airport bus said "Have a safe sky" - I like that.

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Madang airport

    October 16, 2025 in Papua New Guinea ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Madang Airport. First airport I have been to where free coconuts are provided, a live dance troop, and customs have a desk and is entirely random.

    Fokker 70 at our service.

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Couldn't write it

    October 17, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We decided to try the local pub -The Daintree Hotel, for dinner and a beer. In the village of Daintree, where the main business is farming and croc cruises, a classic outback kind of town, a shop, a hotel and another shop.

    Daintree hotel mostly inhabited by modern day Mick Dundees. Except they just take tourists to photograph Crocs rather than hunt them. Fine array of bush hats and weird beards.

    Into pub, bought a couple of VBs, my first for 35 years, and ordered some pork ribs and a Caesar salad.

    Local ladies running a raffle for a slab (tray) of meat. Pointed out it wasn't much use to us so Caroline was given task of pulling out the winner. She duly pulled out the ticket of one of the organisers, also called Caroline.

    At this point a local "character" (later we discovered his name is Leon Lennon Burchill, a small time tv and film actor.) took over the mic.

    Listed as open mic night, it appears it is really a one man show. Leon arrived with a boomerang, a didgeridoo and a karaoke set. After the joke about a boomerang that doesn't come back (a stick) he announced he would start with requests for songs. "Any requests?" He asked. "Yes, play the didgeridoo." Was reply.

    So after explaining his celebrity status (was invited to UK by queen for jubilee, knows Angus Young (very shy) and "many other celebrities" he plays a burst of didgery.

    While listening to the didge, I asked CW what would be her karaoke song. Leon stars off with some mild ballad on Karaoke. CW refuses to even countenance the possibility of karaoke. I reveal mine is Ring of Fire, by Johnny cash.

    10 seconds later Leon fires into Ring of Fire. With no contact from us. Next up, some requests "Sweet Caroline". He declines and instead plays some Dire Straits, CW favourite band.

    Excellent ribs and corn on cob. Recommended.

    Turns out Open mic night is really a Leon Karaoke juke box. Tad sad as he ends up singing and talking to an empty restaurant as everyone sits outside.

    Very Oz family next table. Teenage son with king mullet.

    I have in my head a childhood poem about a cassowary, was this it?

    If I were a cassowary
    On the plains of Timbuctoo
    I would eat a missionary,
    Cassock, bands, and hymn-book too    Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger
    1

    Bloody Intrepid

    October 17, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Daintree Eco lodge. Now owned by Intrepid, like most other things. Bloody hell Daryl and Manch.

    Delightful restaurant overlooking pond where frogs provide strong background music. Chalets dotted around the hill and a couple of average walking tracks. Tried a night walk but not much action apart from a spider!

    Lodge building was destroyed in 2023 by typhoon - now rebuilt. Good staff though no sign of local employees as the blurb suggests.

    Small swimming pool turned out to be wildlife spot. Funky 'Northern jewel spider' that looks nothing like a spider, praying mantis, centipede and large bug (cicada?).

    Special dinner for 2 on private deck but CW not feeling good so finished off trout myself as C lying down. Just been offered lemony pudding - damn. Don't tell C.

    Sent message via owner to Darryl. Reply said to double room rate and employ extra security.    Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Bush tucker Bruce

    October 18, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Sweet, juicy grapefruit, blue tongue berries, flowers that taste like mushrooms, eels that like being stroked and ants to put in your G & T. All true onthe Cassowary falls farm.

    Bruce's endless enthusiasm for the forest and it's plants, and his wife knowledge of what is what, combined with a bit of mischief and some fantastic scenery make for a great couple of hours. Zipping around the farm in a seemingly unstoppable ATV, he explains what grows in the forest, why it grows and what you can eat.

    Land is so fertile, and weather so wet n warm fruit grows especially quickly. Large and sweet.

    Grapefruit sweet enough to be eaten straight from the tree, and incredibly juicy. Citrus fruit grows all year round.

    World's oldest rainforest

    Forest takes over pastures very quickly. Wattle plants appear first, birds settle on them, shit out seeds they have eaten and new plants and trees take over. 10 years cover of low trees. 30 years forest..

    Called a "Vine forest" as vines, creepers, strangler figs cover neaLry everything.

    Lawyer Cane. Small palm that grows incredibly strong bamboo like shoots across forest floor (the canes used for furniture making etc) which have long thin hooked tendrils which climb other plants to the canopy to access sunlight. Also known as "wait a while" as it hooks passers by who need to disengage before continuing.

    Things tried.
    Blue tongue berries
    Wild lime
    Wild nutmeg
    Wild raspberry
    Small blue flowers taste like mushrooms
    Green ants taste like lemon ( can be served with gin)! Ants taste of lemon the ones I ate lived on citrus trees.

    ATV ride through streams getting pax very wet, especially front row, up and down very steep banks and tracks and over seemingly impossible terrain, a treat in itself.

    Cassowary falls
    Very pretty waterfalls with lovely cool swimming pool. Semi tame eel that gets treats, loads of (saw back and?) turtles, and big number of trout. Possible to get behind falls before leaping into pool.
    Took mask n snorkel. Big trout swim up to mask and stare!    Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Creb track.

    October 19, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Drove a few miles up the Creb track (Cairns Region electricity board). Follows the Daintree river. Getting wilder, remote farms and rainforest backed by mountains. Apparently easy to get stuck for inexperienced drivers. Rescues abound.Read more

  • Powell EttingerSeychonesiaPowell Ettinger

    Hook

    October 20, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Turned up as scheduled for 7am wildlife and croc cruise. To find there was a stuff up and no room in the boat. Come back at 09.15 for a private cruise. Actually timing suited us as we would have had time to kill.

    So good breakfast and back at 09.15. just us and Alex

    Mostly birds, including excellent nesting Papuan frogmouth. Went in search of big male croc called Hook who hands out in Barratts Creek. Found a dead cow that Hook stole from Barrat ( who used to live in Barratts Creek until ousted by Scarface). No sign of Hook. Carried on upstream and saw a baby ( 2 years old?) offspring of Hook. On way back glimpsed Hook by the dead cow, but he was being shy
    His head was huge, apparently he is about 4.5 metres long - probably 40-50 years old.. Biggest Salties can grow to 7 metres and weigh 2 tons!
    Girls only reach about 3 metres.

    Some of the birds.
    Wompoo
    Shining flycatcher
    Papua frogmouth
    Welcome swallow
    Pygmy geese
    Sahul sunbird
    Friarbird x2
    Green oriole
    Azure kingfisher
    Fig bird    Read more

  • Trip end
    October 21, 2025
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