We were able to interview the chief archaeologist on the Presidential Task Force, Dr. Ali Akbar at University of Indonesia and get an update on the discoveries at Gunung Padang and its megalithic structure.

Captain Hans Berekoven and I, Clifford Terry, will be making a trip to Indonesia to connect with a few colleagues over there.  Bob Effendi, the director of Greentech Indonesia, is organizing our itinerary and setting up the interviews we will be conducting.  Some of the people we hope to be connecting with are Ali Akbar, the lead archaeologist on the Gunung Padang excavation and some the Indonesia Marine Geological Research Institute team.  We are also hoping to connect with Dr. Danny Hillman Natawidjaja, the lead geologist working on Gunung Padang.

The Maritime Mysteries Explorers are back in action and heading to Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia in Borneo.  They will be returning to their vessel, the Southern Sun and will be soon heading off for new expeditions in the South China Sea.  You can keep abreast of their exploits by checking this blog, Facebook page, Twitter and Google + page.

There have been a number of articles written about the megalithic site at Gunung Padang and the scientist there that are conducting the surveys.  One of the leading scientists there and perhaps the one most associated with the site is geologist, Danny Hilman Natawidjaja.  He has taken one the world's most well-known authority on unexplained phenomenon, Graham Hancock, on a tour of the site and the resulting article gave an in-depth analysis on the work being done there.  Now he has invited a fellow geologist to take a tour of the site, Robert M. Schoch Ph.D. and the article that he wrote on his tour of the site and his assessment of the work being done there is the most comprehensive exposition on the surveys being conducted there and how the results can be interpreted.  While there can still be a certain amount of controversy surrounding these interpretations, he uses his expertise in geology and comparisons to  similar finding in other parts of the world to bring a legitimacy to the statements he is make.  Have a read of his article and draw your own conclusions.  I am sure you will find it illuminating.
Journey to Gunung Padang
The case for a lost ice-aged civilization in Indonesia
by Robert M. Schoch Ph.D.

In a little over a month after the Maritime Mysteries Explorers visited the Megalith site at Gunung Padang, there was another distinguished visitor to the site.  None other than the world renowned adventurer, writer, and journalist, Graham Hancock.  His writings has served as an inspiration to a number of our explorations.  As it so happens, when we were discussing an anomaly that we found on the Luconia Shoals last year, I show one of the skeptics in our group what Graham had written about the structures that are found under the sea off the Japanese island of Yonaguni, which he talks about in his book, Underworld: the Mysterious Origins of Civilisation.  In this book, he talks about the possibility of an Ice-Aged civilisation just like we are searching for.  Coincidentally, when this person saw the pictures from Graham's website, he remember coming across similar structures on the South Korean country-side.  Needless to say, this open his eyes to the possibilities of what we were looking for.

Read what Graham Hancock had to say about his visit to Gunung Padang:
From Indonesia To Turkey New Archaeological Discoveries Uncover The Mysteries Of A Lost Civilisation 
By Graham Hancock

Gunung Padang  (Mountain of Enlightenment )

Gunung Padang is a Mountain in central Java that has been for years a place of special significance for the local peoples, even some from Bali coming to pay homage, but now has become the focus of the President and the team that he had set up to investigate it's sacred significance.

How do we know about this?
In 2010 we were guest speakers at a conference about Anceint Sunda Civilization in Bogor. On arrival at the Salak Hotel we were greeted by Mr Samantho who had instigated the conference and us being there. A dynamic sharp minded individual with a passion for Ancient History who is the Director at Bayt al-Hikmah Institute and Director of the Bayt al-Hikmah Institute, Research and Development Center for Philosophy, Science, Civilization and Gnostic-Spiritualism at ACAS Paramadina University. Also being keen to prove that Indonesia was once the seat of an Ancient Ice-Age Civilization has established AI ( Atlantis Indonesia) This group has grown in members at an enormous rate (some twenty six thousand members) and are a lot of fun to hang out with!

So on the 25th of October 2013 the Captain, our close Miri friend Mr Chai and I met up with our Producer Eric (Treasure Images Saba) in Java to explore the possibilities of this mountain actually being a Step Pyramid Older than 10,000 BC  It was the information that The Presidential Task Force had conclusively confirmed through  extensive surveys with electrical resistivity, ground penetrating radar and seismic tomography and having analysed drill core samples from selected areas that motivated our visit.

We wanted to include the Atlantis Indonesia group and offered to hire a bus so that the small group of students that followed us to the other  two mountains that were suspected of being Pyramids could follow on this trip. However it ended up being four buses with one hundred and seventeen ( yes you read correctly 117) otheres followed!!

It was an awesome experience to say the least.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ImTuVI9lhc
More interesting reading can be found   http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Java


It was a FIVE hour trip from Jakarta!!!



Posted 7th December 2013 by Southern Sun

The other really good excuse to go to Europe was to visit "Dirk Eelen" our official Archaeologist. He is a very well known artist was having an Art Exhibition at the time that I was visiting the Netherlands so I "had" to pop down to see that!
Arriving after a great train trip I was well received by Dirk and his children. Dirk has dived the wreck of the "Viscount Melbourne" many times in Borneo but lives in Luven a very beautiful city in Belguim. He plans to rejoin us for another stint of salvage early next year. In the mean time he has a collection of art that if you know good art you  will want one of his on your walls!!!  www.dirkeelen.com

As promised, the reason why I have come to the Netherlands is to learn how to treat the artifacts that we are retrieving from the bottom the sea! We found it while looking for an Ice Age Civilization that we believe existed some 12,000 years ago. She is a wooden ship 150ft long and 45 ft wide with brass sheathing.


An Artist Impression of the "Viscount Melbourne"

The vessel  left from Singapore after picking up Mrs Dare, a 22 year old woman with a 2 month old baby at the breast and a 2 yr old son who were going to join her husband Capt Dare. Leaving England together on his ship she had conceived along the way so was left along with her young George in Mrs. Clarke's boarding house in Singapore where she gave birth to her son Julius. Meanwhile her husband had continued on to Macau. With Julius now being old enough to travel  they joined the ill fated "Viscount Melbourne".

We have since discovered that Julius went on to establish Rugby in Japan and George returned to live in  Singapore with  his wife being the first woman to drive a car in there.

We first discovered this wreck by reading The Dairies of the White Raj -  Rajah Brook's  followed by a Google search which led to the "Silver Bowl      http://www.thesilverbowl.com/misc/pirates_dare.htm
"http://www.thesilverbowl.com/documents/newsclippings/1907Dec16.html  
(These have been updated since I  first found them )
Then onto the Singapore National Library for 5 days of further research where we discovered the "full account" which I will reveal at a later date.

This is how she looks now - a first hand view 40 meters deep
Exposed deck


One of the Anchors
Take not of the large "Nail" in the center of the deck 


Who knew that these vessels of the 1900's had such luxury foods?
Preserved yellow cherries !!!!






Champagne 

Beer or Madeira Wine - to be confirmed
Crude applied lip, these are a three mold hand blown glass bottle with corksThe contents of one of the bottle that popped it cork
The contents were not consumable 

                 
We are working in collaboration with a friend and businessman in Miri who's vision has been to establish a Maritime Museum in Miri - Sarawak. Our aim to to help achieve this with the artifacts being donated to this Museum.



Posted 17th September 2012 by Southern Sun

Unexpected Surpirses:Just before heading down to Luven by train, I received out of the blue a totally unexpected  call from a producer in KL Malaysia. After a 4 hour Skype session with her it was determined that the "story" of the Shipwrecked Viscount Melbourne was worthy of a full documentary and a submission would be handed in. If successful filming would commence next year! Joke decided that I needed some fresh air and so an evening of R&R unfolded with drinks at a near by watering hole "The Stinky" and then diner with the "young ones" Jokes's 16yr old daughter and friends. It was a lovely way to say goodbye to Haarlem.







Then the train ride upgraded to First Class by the very charming conductor!



Posted 17th September 2012 by Southern Sun

If you have an open mind life's wonderful surprises can enter and enrich your experiences:Well mine must be open right now cause I am on a roll!
The airport stop over was filled with interesting and quirky meetings. Matt the English Dive Instructor going home from Thailand filled nearly 4 hours of my time in a Japanese Restaurant with humor and wild tales of horror dives,  Lilly the beautiful young English girl returning from NZ visiting her father who was producing and Opera, and before I knew it it was time to join my plane along with all the other passengers, not a spare seat to be found! Despite the fullness of the plane and the turbulence I had a enough sleep to fill refreshed for the start of my adventure in Amsterdam.

On my arrival I was whisked away by Joke to her work place  http://www.cultureelerfgoed.nl/en/collections/national-maritime-archaeology-repository
The best way to describe the way I am feeling to to simply say "Call me Alice"  ( Alice in wonderland!)

This is the view from Joke's Office, note the tall ship the "Batavia" Replica in the back ground!
Today I took  tour of the area in which the Netherlands Government look after the artifacts from their historic wooden shipwrecks. There is a team of around 17 of which I met quite a few and discussed with them their expertise. It was kept a short introduction due to the long flight I had just taken. We will return to do two days of  serious restoration work.

 An Ancient ROMAN RIVER BOAT that is being preserved before restoration

Keeping the OLD TIMBER under raps literally 
until it can be treated in the tank with sprinklers over head to keep it wet

CAST IRON CANNONS waiting to be treated
they will be heated to 800 degrees to force the salt out of them 

This is a very important step in my journey. We have taken on the responsibility of the artifacts from the Viscount Melbourne, it is very important that what we take from the sea we can treat accordingly so that is preserved for others to enjoy. So much history is locked away in these ships. I hidden time capsule on the bottom of the sea





Posted 5th September 2012 by Southern Sun