Making our way north and a visit from King Neptune

The Island of Belitung has to be one of the most beautiful places we've visited.  As we zoomed around the myriad of tiny islands fringed with pristine white sand and giant boulders strewn haphazardly nearby, we saw turtles swimming beneath us through the clear water. Paradise.

 Phil at the helm.

Visited the lighthouse built by the Dutch in the old Colonial days.

 A few yachties (us included) were the only western visitors we saw on Belitung, however it is a popular destination for Indonesians on holiday.  There was a wedding party on the island near the lighthouse, and one of the other tourists (from Bangka) offered to take our photo.

 This large concrete jetty was on the main island of Belitung with several tour boats tied up.  There were many fishing boats, which tended to go out in the evening.  On shore there was a little row of restaurants.  Two thumbs up.

One day we hired a car (and driver) to take us into the city, about 30 minutes away.  Needed to reload our phone after Chris messed with it and cancelled the data package.  It was a really nice town, we can't understand why Belitung doesn't even get a mention in Lonely Planet's Indonesian guide book.  Great markets too, we stocked up on the usual fruits and veggies and then went to a supermarket for a few more items.  Haven't had shopping this good since Bali.

 Fresh chickens.

Bangka was the next island we visited.  We pulled into a bay with Tigress Too expecting a lovely calm anchorage and a little place to get something to eat and a cold beer on shore.  The anchorage was great (the first day) and we enjoyed a trip to shore and a swim with Jerry and Jean, however the resorts which were here 20 years ago (according to a local) are gone.  Next day after a blustery tropical storm, we celebrated Jeans birthday on Basanti.

 Rain and 35 knots of wind today.  Will Jean and Jerry be able to come to Jean's party??

Luckily, Phil made the cake a day earlier.

Skies clear and the party was on.

Happy Birthday to Jean!!

 

From Bangka we again overnight sailed up to Lingga and then across the equator, to a little island off of Lingga called Kentar.  Beer in hand, we sailed into the Northern Hemisphere

 King Neptune visited us, as none of us on Basanti had previously sailed across the equator, and we offered rum and port.  Good looking King, don't you think??

 

Anchored at Kentar overnight.  We frequently attract various local visitors.  Often they are fellows selling fish, but for a change, a group of ladies rowed out (they were actually towed quite a way by a fisherman).  We thought maybe they'd try to sell us some fruit or veggies, but apparently they just wanted a chat and hoped for some t-shirts or other souvenirs. We gave them a little tourist book on northern Australia AND our garden.

 The gardening effort on Basanti hasn't gone well.  Initially, most of the plants died, even the mint.  In Carnarvon we were given another basil plant and so we had basil and parsley since then.  Not much...these plants struggle and seem to get smaller with time.  Finally, both Chris and Phil have managed to hurt themselves on the planter, so it was time for the plants to depart and the ladies gladly took the garden.

Everyone was really friendly, luckily they spoke more English than we speak Indonesian.  Get us away from a market or restaurant and we're hopeless.  Even so, they invited us to visit their village, but we wished to leave Kentar and sail a bit further north that day, so after chatting for a while Phil offered to tow them back to shore.

 As always, the friendliness of the locals is remarkable.

These fellows stopped by and sold us some squid.

Chris washed all the ink away and cleaned the squid.  We had 2 meals from it...first prepared in a tomato/chilli sauce and next more like salt and pepper squid. Yum, tender and fresh.

Next stop on the tour was Benan, a tiny island nestled amongst a group of small islands.  We wanted some more fresh food and one of the locals said there was a shop in town.

 There is a long concrete jetty out over the shallow and surprisingly clear water.  Many stilt houses are perched off the beach, over the water, as well as shops and some restaurants.

At the shore end of the jetty is a nice welcoming sign.

 Tiny fish dry in nets along the jetty.

 The homes in this village were generally nice and the surrounds were pretty tidy.

 We had lunch at one of the little restaurants along the jetty.  There are regular ferries that come and go from the end of the jetty.  The water was clear enough to see little fish swimming around beneath us.

Young visitors come out to visit us and Tigress Too also.  They are so little, and completely out of sight of their village when they come out to see us.

 

We get some awesome sunsets up here.  The photo below was not enhanced in any way, actually I reduced the image size to load it here.  This is Tigress Too anchored near us at Benan.  They've now sailed on ahead to get to the beer at Nongsa point marina and we'll catch up with them in a couple of weeks.