In November 2012, ‘Herbie’ and Liz Hemphill the owners of Herbie’s Spices and Ian Burnet the author of the book Spice Islands, together with 20 other like minded individuals voyaged around Maluku and the Spice Islands of the Indonesian archipelago on the vessel Ombak Putih for 12 days.

Nutmeg originally only grew on the remote Banda Islands and here we visit the nutmeg plantations. ‘Herbie’ describes how nutmeg and mace are  grown and harvested, and Ian Burnet explains about the history of the spice trade.

Cloves originally only grew on the islands of Ternate, Tidore, Motir, Makian and Bacan.  ‘Herbie’ describes how they are grown, harvested and dried until they finish up in our spice cupboard at home.

Our voyage on the Ombak Putih finishes on the island of Ternate where we were able to visit the Sultan’s Palace and tour the island, and where ‘Herbie’ discovered a mountain of dried cloves in a spice exporter’s warehouse.

Now watch the video of our voyage on Herbies TV

More information about the book Spice Islands is available at www.ianburnetbooks.com

More information about Herbie’s Spices is available at www.herbies.com.au