Category Archives: Uncategorized

Exploring the Spice Islands — 2014

Posted on February 10, 2015 by ianburnet

Exploring the Spice Islands in Eastern Indonesia. – Garry and Anna Connery The following article was published in the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron magazine — Logbook In October we travelled in Eastern Indonesia. On the way to the Spice Islands … Continue reading →

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Kasteel Batavia

Posted on February 3, 2015 by ianburnet

Jan Pieterszoon Coen as the the fifth Governor-General of the United Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) negotiated an agreement with the Prince of Jayakarta to build a factory on the east bank of the Ciliwung River where it entered the … Continue reading →

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The Walls of Old Batavia

Posted on January 16, 2015 by ianburnet

The map below shows the outline of the City of Batavia and its defensive walls and bastions in 1780, at the peak of its commercial development and before the subsequent bankruptcy of the United Dutch East India Company (VOC) only … Continue reading →

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Fort Nieuw Victoria, Ambon — A Mystery Solved?

Posted on January 16, 2015 by ianburnet

A fort on this location was built by the Portuguese in the 1500’s and then captured by the first war fleet commissioned by the United Dutch East India Company in 1605 and commanded by Steven van de Hagen. The fort … Continue reading →

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The Coronation of the Sultan of Tidore — October 2014

Posted on January 12, 2015 by ianburnet

When our first Spice Islands Sailing Adventure reached Tidore in 2012 we sadly learnt that the Sultan had recently passed away. During that visit we were taken to a Council House high on the mountain, where the elders would meet … Continue reading →

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The Forgotten Founder of Singapore

Posted on December 8, 2014 by ianburnet

I have always been surprised by the lack of recognition in Singapore for its co-founder William Farquhar. Please correct me if I am wrong but I cannot find a street or place named after him anywhere in the city. In … Continue reading →

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The Ambon War Cemetery

Posted on November 4, 2014 by ianburnet

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them. The Commonwealth Graves Cemetary … Continue reading →

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The Ambon War Cemetery – Damien Parer

Posted on November 2, 2014 by ianburnet

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them. The famous Australian war … Continue reading →

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Congratulations President Joko Widodo

Posted on October 23, 2014 by ianburnet
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Operation Opossum — The Rescue of the Sultan of Ternate, 1945

Posted on October 22, 2014 by ianburnet

On our visit to the Sultan’s Palace in Ternate we learned of how the family was rescued from the Japanese at the end of the Second World War. Here are the details summarised from an article by Kevin Smith in … Continue reading →

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