Westport:

Breaking our journey up as we headed up the west coast, we made a stop in Punakaiki to hopefully watch the blowhole and have a look at the Pancake Rocks. As we made the journey to Punakaiki rather quicker than we had planned, we were too early to see the blowhole in action as it was still low tide. Instead of waiting for hours for high tide we had a walk along the cliff edge to get a better look at the Pancake Rocks. The rocks themselves are a collection of sea stacks and parts of the cliff face that appear to be made up of multiple thin layers. The thin layers are created by a process called stylobedding, whereby the pressure of overlying sediment creates alternating durable and weaker bands. The processes of weathering and uplifting have accentuated this effect creating the wonderfully layered rocks. Whatever the process they certainly look very impressive!
From the rocks we continued down the road a short way and stopped for a walk along the beach, before continuing on to Cape Foulwind (named by Captain Cook in 1770) just south of Westport. Our main reason for stopping at Cape Foulwind, apart to have a laugh at the name was to visit the Tauranga Bay Seal Colony. It was really good to see the seal pups at play on the rocks and to see once again more of New Zealand’s dramatic coastline.
After finding a camper park for the night we headed into what the Rough Guide describes as New Zealand’s most dispiriting town. Westport describes itself as ‘New Zealand the way it was’. Either way it certainly couldn’t be described as New Zealand’s most exciting town! We should mention however that the people we met were all really friendly and later that evening we witnessed probably the best sunset we have yet seen on our travels.
Our trip up the west coast was over and it was time to head across country to Kaikoura.

Greymouth:

The area towards the north western part of the South Island is famous for its Greenstone (Jade), so after a stop at Lake Mahinapua to look at yet another beautiful reflection we made a brief stop in Hokitika. Hokitika is a big centre for Greenstone carving, although as we found out Sunday is not the best time to visit. Giving up on the greenstone shops we had the somewhat surreal experience of having a look around the National Kiwi Centre and wool shop! The title ‘National’ implies a professional setup, but what you get is a rather charming if somewhat homemade looking attraction that includes tropical fish tanks, an enormous eel tank, a very tatty pond area and eventually the Kiwi enclosures. It was the first Kiwi I had seen and nothing can prepare you for just how peculiar looking they are. The way they move is unlike any other bird I have ever encountered.
Back on the road we continued our journey to Greymouth which turned out to be, apart from Jade Country Greenstone, just as closed as Hokitika! After having a look round the quite interesting Jade Country exhibition we went to book a black water rafting and caving trip. Unfortunately the Dragon Cave Rafting office was closed but we managed to get hold of them on the phone and booked on for the next day.
Dragon Cave Rafting advertises the trip as the best black water rafting experience you will ever have. Not having done any black water rafting before, that would be hard for me to judge, but the whole thing didn’t start terribly well when we found out we were the only ones on the tour. This would have been fine but the guy on the phone had made a big thing about whether he could fit us in! After getting kitted out in lots of layers of thermals and wetsuits we set off for the cave, with two guides who had clearly modelled themselves on Cannon & Ball (replace this with any bad comedy double act you can think of). It was just as well we were wearing lots of thick layers or our sides would have surely split at their collective jokes! Personally I quite enjoyed the whole trip, but Debs is really not keen on dark caves, bats and not being able to see through misted glasses. When the main guide stopped trying to be funny, he was quite informative and came across as a nice guy; it was just a shame that he felt the need to be such an idiot (actual choice of word changed for any youngsters reading). When we made it back out of the cave, I had a go on a natural rock waterslide and we then headed back to the base for a cold beer and warming spa. I couldn’t say that I would recommend Dragons Cave Rafting to anyone after our experience, but if it sounds like your kind of thing and you find yourself in Greymouth then it may be worth a look.
Having had a look around the town centre that morning, we didn’t think that Greymouth was likely to have a terribly happening nightlife, so we opted instead for a quiet night in. Tomorrow morning we leave for Westport.

Fox Glacier:

Leaving Queenstown we took the high pass across to Wanaka, where we hoped to have a good view of the beautiful lake. Unfortunately due to the cloud cover, the lake was rather obscured, so we continued instead to Puzzling World. Situated close to the town of Wanaka, Puzzling World is an attraction loaded with optical illusion rooms, holograms and a gigantic two level outdoor maze. The illusions are amazing and the maze is very challenging, so much so that I am afraid to say that we gave up halfway! With our brains and legs having been given a good workout, we got back into the trusty camper and continued our journey.
Once again the beauty of New Zealand delayed our progress as the weather had cleared and we were treated to a fantastic view of firstly Lake Hawea and then lake Wanaka. Eventually tearing ourselves away from the view, we managed to get the rest of the way to Fox in time to book a Heli hike for the next day.
Rather surprisingly, the temperature during the night was warmer than we had been used to, so we woke up early feeling fresh for our trip up the glacier. At about 9am a bus took us to the heliport where we got kitted out in thick socks and boots and awaited our turn for the short helicopter ride up the glacier. The flight although quite short was stunning, as the pilot took us high up the glacier to where the ice is moving at a rate of 30m per day (you did read correctly 30m!). Eventually we landed on a safer spot and were quickly kitted out in crampons ready to trek across the ice. During the next 2 hours we climbed through ice caves and tunnels, stared into deep crevasses and in my case had a trouser crampon incident. We had a really good guide during the trek; although his judgement as to whether someone could fit through a gap in the ice seemed a little off, when one of the guys from our group got stuck! In fairness after his rescue the guy was still adamant that he would have fitted if he hadn’t got his crampon stuck, we were all just pleased to see him back! In what seemed like no time, our time on the ice was over and we headed back to meet the helicopter for the return trip to base. The experience of walking on such a vast glacier was amazing, but it was very good to get the freezing boots off our feet!
As it is almost impossible to go anywhere in New Zealand, without seeing a postcard showing Mt Cook and Mt Tasman reflected in the crystal clear waters of Lake Matheson, we thought we had better go and have a look. After a snack and coffee at the nearby café we set off around the lake, stopping frequently to marvel at the beautiful reflections. Unfortunately due to a fair amount of cloud cover we were unable to get the full pristine view, but the scenery was still stunning. After what seemed like quite an energetic day we headed back to the camper for a rest and to get packed up for the journey to Greymouth the next day.

Queenstown:

With thirty continual days of activities available to you in Queenstown, you could never describe the town as being dull! When you throw the beautiful Lake Wakatipu with its crystal clear and 90% pure waters and the stunning surrounding Remarkables mountain range in to the mix, it is easy to see why people flock here. With a planned couple of days we had a look through the countless leaflets advertising everything from bungee jumps, canyon swings and sky diving, to jet boat rides and crazy golf! After remembering watching a program where Jeremy Clarkson had a go on the ‘Fly by Wire’ (see photos) I was keen to have a go, so we booked on for later that afternoon. With the morning free we headed into town to have a look at the lake, which is where I saw the 700bhp Kawarau Jet boats. As previous boat trips have left Debs feeling sea sick, she decided to give the hour long trip where the boat spins and rushes down rapids at 50mph a miss. After getting togged up in a poncho and life jacket I got into the boat and we set off. Due to the still waters of the lake the journey was remarkably calm and apart from when we went into a spin or rushed towards an oncoming tree or bridge, it was very difficult to judge the speed. The highlight of the trip was when we rushed down the tributaries of the Shotover River, some of them less than 10cm deep. More than once we could hear the bottom of the boat, make contact with the river bed as we twisted and turned through the narrow streams. One hour and 43kms later, it was all over as arrived back in Queenstown and I went to meet Debs. The shame was that the whole journey had been so smooth that Debs would have probably been alright; oh well maybe next time!
With the morning seemingly having rushed past it was time to go and meet our ride to the ‘Fly by Wire’ site. During the short journey we were given a brief introduction to what we were going to be doing and before we knew it, the moment of truth had arrived. Basically you are strapped into a small fan powered plane/rocket that is attached to a steel cable, winched 200ft up a mountain side and then by means of a throttle and handle bars, you swoop up and down through the valley. If you get the whole thing right, you can reach speeds of 171kph and stay weightless for 3.17seconds at each turn. After 5 minutes you are out of fuel and you slowly swing around the valley until you are lowered on to the platform. It has to be said it was definitely more my type of thing than Debs, she gave it a good go but she didn’t really manage to get to grips with what she was supposed to be doing. Part of the problem is that you are in a laying position and to turn the handlebars at the top of the arc requires quite a lot of strength, which I don’t think the staff really explained to her. Nevertheless with the adrenaline still coursing and our wallets considerably lighter it had been a good day.
Settling for a slower pace the next day we headed straight for the ‘Caddy Shack’ crazy golf course, where we had a hilarious time playing through the 18 holes of beautifully designed obstacles; somewhat unusually for crazy golf I won! After the golf it was straight on to the cable car that would take us to the top of Bob’s peak and the start of the Luge track. Unlike the sledges you see on TV, these are purpose built Go karts that you steer down your choice of scenic or advanced concrete tracks. The luge track has to be some of the best fun you can have, for surprisingly little money. After racing down the tracks several times our turn was over so we contented ourselves with the beautiful views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range.
It would be very easy to spend ages in Queenstown, but it would also be very easy to spend a huge amount of money. The problem with all of the adrenaline pumping attractions available is that while you are enjoying the high it is very easy to say “just one more go”. With our wallets still intact, it was time to move on, a Heli hike on Fox Glacier beckons.

Dunedin to Milford:

As we set off in the morning our original intention was to spend the night in Te Anau, and then drive the short distance to Milford Sound the next day. Making good time along the snow free roads, we passed through the town of Gore. Gore is the self proclaimed ‘Brown Trout’ capital of the world, as well as the ‘Country and Western’ capital of New Zealand! Much more importantly, the baker sells quite nice sausage rolls! Fighting against the overwhelming urge to spend longer in Gore, we continued our journey towards Te Anau. As we had made really good time we arrived in Te Anau at about 2pm and after a quick phone call to Milford lodge regarding the road conditions and whether they had a campervan site, we decided to continue on. The drive to Milford is extremely scenic, with a brief stop at the beautiful Mirror Lakes being a particular highlight. Trying to resist the urge to keep stopping for photos we eventually made it to Milford Lodge at about 4:30pm, just before it started to get really cold. The lodge was quite nice but the campervan site was to say the least haphazard. We did however have our first close encounter with a Kea (Alpine Parrot), which we fed some bread before we had read the sign telling us not to, oops!
For the first time since we left Christchurch the campervan didn’t actually seem like a good idea as we spent the coldest night we had yet encountered. The freezing temperatures weren’t helped by the fact that all of the electricity at the lodge was via a generator, which was turned off between 11pm and 7am, so our heater didn’t work! After a somewhat fitful night’s sleep we set off to the wharf for a boat trip on Milford Sound. Milford Sound is actually a fjord and not a sound, as it was formed by a glacier and not a river, which was originally thought at the time of naming. Speaking from a purely personal point, I have to say that I think Milford Sound is one of the most overrated tourist attractions in New Zealand. In a country with so much beautiful scenery the sound was rather lost on me, plus it is in the middle of nowhere, with only one road leading in and out. I am sure that many would disagree with me, Debs included, but rather than wasting a day getting there and back, you could spend more time enjoying the easily accessible and just as beautiful mountains and lakes that cover the south island.
With the boat trip over we set off once again bound for Queenstown (New Zealand’s adventure capital). Aside from a slight incident when I may have underestimated how much diesel we had left (we did actually make it to the garage, but it was touch and go!) we arrived safely and checked into yet another Top Ten holiday park.

Oamaru to Dunedin:

After checking with the holiday park office, we were pleased to find out that the road south had been reopened so our road trip was back in business. On the way to Dunedin we stopped at the Moeraki boulders, a collection of almost perfectly spherical rocks. Some of the boulders are huge and we had a good time clambering on, and in one case in, these strange rocks. Seeing even more of the boulders sticking out from the cliff face ready to fall, just adds to the spectacle.
Heading back to our trusty campervan we continued our journey to Dunedin. Making good time, we safely negotiated the city’s one way system and arrived at yet another top ten holiday park. With plenty of supplies on board we made ourselves comfortable and settled in for the night.
Dunedin is New Zealand’s so called ‘Scottish city’. The city has been modelled on Edinburgh, complete with a statue of Robert Burns. The city seems quite nice, but we wouldn’t recommend visiting on a Sunday unless you like the look of closed shops. One of the more notable buildings in the city centre, aside from the towering cathedral, is the beautiful train station. Looking not unlike a Lego castle from the outside, inside you are greeted by beautiful tiled floors and walls, complete with old lanterns and stained glass windows.
Leaving the city behind we headed out to the nearby Otago Peninsula, following the wonderfully scenic road that leads eventually to Taiaroa Head, home of the world’s only mainland albatross colony. We had a brief look around the visitors centre, but decided that the rather steep entrance fee to see nesting albatross was too much for us. After the disappointment of not seeing any penguins in Oamaru, we decided to visit the nearby Yellow Eyed penguin colony. A local farmer, realising that he had a penguin colony on his land, has built a huge labyrinth of hides and has set about protecting their habitat in the hope that their numbers will increase. The entrance fee is once again quite steep, but there is nowhere else in the world where you will get to see these extremely rare penguins close up. We were delighted to see 15 penguins coming in from the sea to rest after days at sea fishing. With the light fading we set off back to Dunedin and our campsite. It had been a thoroughly enjoyable day, but it was time to get some sleep before we left the next morning bound for Milford.

Akaroa to Oamaru:

Leaving the campsite at 10am we headed down along highway one towards Oamaru, where we planned to stop for the night. Passing through the town of Timaru we stopped to have a look around Aigantighe (pronounced egg and tie) art gallery. The gallery is housed within a large Edwardian house, built in 1908 as a retirement home for Scottish born Alexander and Helen Grant. The gallery is well worth a visit, if only to have a look around the house and the interesting sculpture garden. The garden displays works by New Zealand, Zimbabwean and Japanese sculptors, with the Zimbabwean work being our favourite.
On arrival in Oamaru we booked into the very central Top Ten holiday park and then headed into town to get some shopping. Oamaru is a very attractive town with wide streets and a large amount of Victorian era buildings. Our first stop was at the visitor centre, to collect some information about things to do in the surrounding area. Unfortunately while we were in the centre we saw a traffic notice saying that the road heading south to Dunedin (our next destination) was closed due to snow and ice. Enquiring further about the road conditions we were dismayed to learn that many of the southern roads had been closed, our south island tour may have hit a stumbling block! Knowing that there was nothing we could do about the weather we decided on a few things to do while we were in town.
One of the main things we wanted to do was visit the Blue penguin (the smallest breed of penguin) and Yellow Eyed penguin colonies. As according to the visitor centre there had been no sightings of the blue penguins and to see them required us to pay a rather hefty entrance fee, we headed instead to the yellow eyed colony. After waiting in the rain and wind for a while, it became apparent that we were going to be unlucky with the yellow eyes as well. For me at least, the day ended on a high note when we visited ‘The Barrel House’ a whisky maturation store. New Zealand’s whisky is not bad, as I found out during the tour and whisky tasting.
Oamaru is a nice town to spend a few days in, if only to look at the beautiful buildings and have a browse around the very different harbour front shops. Of the shops, ‘Slightly Foxed’ (a second hand bookshop), the wonderfully strange ‘Grainstore Art Gallery’ and the stone masons are well worth a look.

Christchurch to Akaroa:

As New Zealand is one of the best places in the world to swim with dolphins and as Debs had already swam with Dusky dolphins in Kaikoura, the chance to swim with one of the world’s rarest ‘Hector’s dolphins’ sounded too good a chance to miss. Picking up the campervan at just after 10am we quickly set off on the 1 1/2 hr drive to Akaroa, as we were booked on the 12pm trip. With minutes to spare we arrived at the wharf, found the office and went to check in. Within 20 minutes we were all clad in 5mm thick wetsuits and on board the boat that would hopefully take us to find some dolphins. The Hector’s dolphin is the smallest of the dolphins, measuring only about 1.4m in length and weighing only 105lbs. As they number only around 6500 and tend to stick in small groups of only 2-8 dolphins, finding them can be tricky. Fortunately for us the crew managed to spot some and we were quickly told to get ready to enter the water. Nothing can quite prepare you for getting into the sea with a water temperature of only 9 degrees centigrade, especially when it gets down the neck of your wetsuit! Buoyed on by the experience of being in the water with the dolphins, the cold didn’t seem to matter too much, as we floated towards them hoping to have a closer encounter. All we can say is that they are very fast and very clever, the amount of times we would be looking for them only for there to have been one behind us all the time is quite astounding. Debs managed to get a couple of them to circle round her, but generally we had to be content to be amongst them. After 45 minutes we had to leave the water, as the time is quite strictly managed so as to not have too much impact on these wild creatures. As to whether you could describe the experience as actually swimming with dolphins is up for debate, the water visibility is very poor and so you can only really see them on the surface. However it was still an amazing experience to be in the water with such a rare animal. The acrobatic display by them as we were leaving was just an added bonus, especially as they are not known for there jumping ability.
Returning to the town we had a well deserved hot shower and then set off to find a campsite for the night. Our campervan tour of the south island had got off to a great start!

New Zealand: Christchurch

On arrival in New Zealand we had, for the first time in four months, the novel experience of feeling cold! Quickly retrieving what few warm clothes we had from our bags, we got on the airport shuttle bus bound for the city centre. Christchurch is the south island’s largest city (large town) with a population of just over 300,000 people. Bearing in mind that the south island’s population is only one million, that is quite large!
On reaching the city centre it is easy to think you have arrived in an English town; the name Christchurch comes from an Oxford college and the river Avon runs through the centre. The fact that everyone speaks English only helps to add to the illusion. Having been prepared for higher accommodation costs by our stay in Singapore, room prices at the New Excelsior hostel didn’t come as too much of a shock. The cost of eating out certainly is a shock though; the days of a meal and a beer for less than a pound are clearly behind us!
Dumping our gear in the room we went to try and find a cheapish warm coat for Debs (for some reason she sent hers home) and to have a look at the city. The city is centred round its cathedral, which would be very attractive, if it wasn’t for the scaffolding (aaaaarrrrgghh!). Giving up with the cathedral we stopped and watched an entertaining street performer in the main square and then continued our stroll. The city is really pleasant but it couldn’t be described as vibrant. Deciding that it was too cold and that we were too tired to carry on looking round, we found Debs a coat and then headed back to the hostel for a sleep.
Having priced up various backpacker bus companies, we decide that the best way to see the island was to hire a campervan. Thinking that there would be no problem in getting one as it is the middle of winter, we asked at reception only to be told that as it is the school holidays we may have trouble. Fortunately there turned out to be no problem and we quickly booked a two berth camper for the next 18 days.

Next: The south island by campervan

Singapore

Having spent nearly five months in Asia, Singapore was to be our last destination before heading to the more western countries of New Zealand and eventually America. After the more haphazard public transport system of Indonesia, it was great to get on the MRT (Singapore’s underground) straight from the airport and arrive quickly in the city.
First impressions of Singapore is that it is a spotlessly clean city, where people wait for the lights before crossing the road and car drivers actually stop at zebra crossings (a novelty for Asia). It is also considerably more expensive, hostel rooms are western prices, even in hawker centres food isn’t cheap and despite what we had heard, shopping is no cheaper than back home. As Raffles was a bit out of our price range for accommodation, we chose the next best thing, a private room in a hostel in the Malay village’s red light district!

With five days in Singapore before moving on, we headed first to the famous Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. Singapore Zoo is an ‘open zoo’ that uses moats and small walls to keep the animals in, rather than cages. The setup makes for a much more pleasant experience as your view is rarely obstructed and the animals all appear to have plenty of space. Timing our walk round to coincide with the feeding times, we saw, amongst other animals, gibbons, lions, rhinos (including a very sweet baby), otters and finally the very beautiful white tigers. Watching the huge white tigers swim and splash in the water while they jostled to be fed was an amazing sight and a definite highlight.
As the zoo closes for the day, the Night Safari opens to give you the chance, either via walking or using the tram, to see the nocturnal animals. Walking through the fruit bat enclosure was hilarious and seeing a flying squirrel was great. The whole park is beautifully setup; with easy to follow trails and informative signs. Two parts of the park can only be seen from the tram, but to be honest you can see just about everything by walking, plus you have the added bonus of moving at your own pace.

Having had a thoroughly enjoyable but tiring day at the zoo we decided that we would have a bit of quieter day looking around the shops. Heading for Orchard road (Singapore’s Oxford Street) and knowing that the ‘Singapore Sale’ was on, we arrived with the intention of getting some serious retail therapy. It all turned out to be bit of a let down, we quickly realised that there wasn’t much we actually wanted and what was there wasn’t particularly cheap! When you have been used to dirt cheap designer rip offs in places like Thailand, 30% off the real thing doesn’t seem that good a deal.

Giving up on the shopping, we spent the rest of our stay doing some sightseeing. We had an enjoyable time at the bird park; seeing Debs getting mobbed by Lories when she went to feed them was hilarious and the huge aviaries are very impressive (one even holds the world’s highest man made waterfall). Continuing the sightseeing we went to see the famous Merlion (the symbol of Singapore, half mermaid half lion), the old central district and of course Raffles. Raffles is very grand looking and its courtyard shop and restaurant area is beautiful, but rather wonderfully it has the shoddiest gift shop we have yet encountered on our travels.
Deciding that we couldn’t leave without having a night time trip on the river to see the city lights, we headed to Clarke quay. As they were practising for the national day celebrations, part of the river was closed, so we couldn’t go round to see the Merlion from the front. Nevertheless the short ride was very pleasant, but it is not the most illuminated city we have encountered.
All in all Singapore is very nice, but to be perfectly honest Kuala Lumpur is less sanitised, has great shopping, cheaper food, better accommodation for less money and just about everything Singapore has to offer except the zoo. The zoo is nearly enough to make us prefer Singapore though, but not quite!

Next: Christchurch New Zealand

Jogja to Jakarta

Getting onboard what turned out to be a very comfortable train to Jakarta, we settled down to what was supposed to be an 8 hour journey. Ten hours later, when we were thoroughly bored, we eventually arrived. There had been no announcement of any delay and none of our fellow passengers seemed unduly surprised, so we can only assume it was meant to take that long. With a place to stay already in mind we set off around the national monument knowing it wasn’t far. Stopping to ask for directions from a policeman, we were told that it was further than we thought and we would be better off taking a taxi. Hailing a taxi and being assured he knew where he was going we set off. 9km later for a journey that we thought to be about 1km, it became apparent that he had no idea where he was going! With the meter still ticking away we directed the driver back to roughly the right direction, paid some of the fare and abandoned him. Back at square one, we started walking to the hotel, rather ironically what we had intended to do in the first place. After a long train journey and the stifling heat of the city, we were looking forward to getting to the hotel. When the hotel turned out to have closed down we were not amused and were left with little choice but to go on a hunt for another one. Eventually finding the backpacker area, we found a reasonable hotel, booked a taxi for the morning and collapsed into bed. The whole journey had taken over 13 hours, with hindsight flying looked like a much better option!

Next: Singapore

Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta (known as Jogja) is Java’s most visited city. As well as being of great cultural interest, it is situated within easy access of two of the islands most famous sites, Borobudur (the world’s largest Buddhist stupa) and Prambanan (the largest Hindu temple complex in Java). Deciding to avoid the noisier, modern end of the city we chose to stay in the quieter southern end, along Prawirotaman Road. Our hotel ‘Duta Guesthouse’ turned out to be a lovely, traditionally furnished hotel with a nice pool to relax by, when we got tired of sightseeing.

With five days in the city before we had to leave for Singapore, we first took a Becak (cycle rickshaw) to the Kraton to see the Palace. Having a completely incomprehensible guide certainly didn’t enhance the experience, but we doubt it made much difference. The palace is unfortunately just not that exciting. Having taken a shorter time looking around than we expected, we continued our tour of the rest of the old city. On the way to the bird market, we stopped to see some puppets being made and then had a look around a Batik gallery (I am pleased to say that we made a purchase in each). As well as birds, mainly pigeons (mahpati in Indonesian) the bird market sells all manner of creatures, including fruit bats, lizards and hamsters. After a brief look around we were taken on a tour of the Tamansari (water palace) by a local guide. When filled with water the palace must have been quite a sight. It was good to be shown around some bits that we wouldn’t have found by ourselves. Unfortunately the main palace has been rebuilt in a rather over restored way, so is something of a disappointment. Deciding that it was too hot to do much more, we made a brief stop at a local market and then returned to the hotel.

The next morning we got up at 4:20am to wait for the bus that would take us to Borobodur for sunrise. As it turned out we didn’t actually get to Borobodur at sunrise and on further reading of the advert it didn’t actually mention that we would. Having to be content with seeing the sunrise from the comfort of a minibus, we eventually arrived at Borobodur to be greeted by an $11 entrance fee. This went some way to explain why the tour was so cheap! Begrudgingly paying the entrance fee and noticing that the Indonesians didn’t seem to be paying at all (it is always nice to know that we are preserving other countries heritages for them!) we went in. The stupa is of quite breathtaking scale and the early morning mist gave it a beautifully silhouetted look. Photo opportunities were a little limited however, due to a film crew and all their gear obscuring the top. To top it all, it appeared to be the filming of a soap opera not a documentary (I bet they didn’t pay either!). Walking around the various levels admiring the many and varied carvings we encountered several headless Buddha statues. The opportunity proved too good to miss, so we had a bit of fun pretending to be Buddha and ordering the film crew from our stupa. Having had a good look around we headed down the steps towards the exit, only to get interviewed by some children on an English language course. We were happy to stop and chat with them, but having to write our details in all of their notebooks became a little tiring. After the interview was over we had to have our photos taken with them. Rather embarrassingly the second group photo was taken into the sun, so putting my sunglasses on, rather strangely I still found myself squinting. It wasn’t until we were halfway to the exit that Debs noticed that one of the lenses from my glasses was missing; heaven knows what kind of plum I am going to look on that photo!
The second half of our tour was to Prambanan temple. On the way we made a brief stop at Mendut temple, which instead of going into, we had a pleasant stroll around the garden of a nearby Buddhist monastery. Having been forewarned of the high entrance fees by our visit to Borobodur, the $10 entrance fee for Prambanan came as no surprise. What was a surprise was that you can’t actually get very close to the temples. Due to an earthquake in May 2006, the main Shiva temple has been deemed unsafe and the only view you can have is from behind a fence. There are further temples in the complex, but transport to these wasn’t included in our tour and several of them are too far away to walk. Prambanan, due to the fencing, is probably not worth the entrance fee, especially as they don’t tell you it is closed until you have paid your ten dollars. However the tour was definitely worthwhile if only for the visit to Borobodur.
On the way back from the tour we got dropped off at the train station so that we could book tickets for our journey to Jakarta. Having read the Rough Guides’ description of Jakarta, we had no real desire to stay there. The plan was to arrive by train in the evening, spend one night and then head to the airport early in the morning to catch our flight to Singapore. When we eventually found the ticket office, booking the tickets was very straightforward and we were soon in a taxi back to the hotel.
Looking for a bit of culture, we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the Ramayana Ballet. The ballet was performed in an open air theatre in the Prambanan temple grounds, with the Shiva temple in all its illuminated glory, as a backdrop. The Ramayana ballet tells the story of Rama and the kidnapping of his wife Sinta. We saw the condensed 2 hour tourist friendly version, complete with a hilarious English story board. The full version is performed over four consecutive nights of over 2 hours each and is probably a bit too involved.

Booked through the excellent ‘Via Via’ café, we spent our last day doing a Batik course at Kelik Batik gallery and school. Firstly we chose a design (I chose a gecko and Debs chose an elephant) from a selection of pictures and then using a pencil we had to trace the design onto a piece of white cotton. The next stage, after some practice, was to cover the lines in hot wax using a ‘chanting’; a kind of pen with a reservoir that you fill with hot wax. After the lines were covered, we coloured the different areas by painting them with dye, which was then fixed with acid. Rather laboriously the whole area that we didn’t want re-coloured then had to be covered with paraffin wax. The whole picture was then died black, rinsed and then boiled in water to remove the wax. Our pictures turned out really well and it certainly made us appreciate how much work goes into the amazingly intricate designs available in the gallery. Naturally we couldn’t leave without purchasing a couple of pictures.
With just the evening left we went to Sonobud museum, where they run a nightly puppet show of the Ramayana story. The museum is supposed to be the best place to see this traditional story telling method. All we can say is that it was one of the most incomprehensibly dull things we have ever seen. The puppets barely move, everything is in Indonesian and the synopsis given to us doesn’t seem to tally up with what you are watching. After about an hour we gave it up as a bad job and headed to a restaurant for some dinner. As it was the last night and Jogja is supposedly famous for it, I couldn’t leave without eating King cobra! I had my cobra curried and it was good, but whether I would rush to have it again I am not sure.
We had a really good time in Jogja, with more time maybe we will be back to have a look at the rest of the Island.

Next: Jogja to Jakarta

Back to Senggigi then onward to Yogyakarta

After the rocking motion and engine noise of the boat, it was really good to have a quiet night in a proper bed. Even the call to prayer didn’t wake us! After breakfast we headed to the Peramatour office to have our flight reservations for the next day confirmed. After several phone calls, where it started to look doubtful, we were confirmed on the flight for the following morning.
Deciding that it would be a good idea to book some accommodation in Yogyakarta, Java before we arrived, we set out to find an internet café. The café that we did eventually find advertised the fastest internet in Lombok. All we can say is that the rest must be truly terrible. With a good deal of patience we eventually managed to book a nice sounding hotel in the Prawirotaman Road (the nice part) area of the city. With the hotel booked and the flights confirmed, we spent the rest of the day having massages (Debs that is), resting and repacking our bags ready for the morning.
Having been told that it would take about 30 minutes to the airport, we arranged a taxi for 6:30am, giving us plenty of time before our flight. In typical fashion the journey only took about 15 minutes, so we ended up with even more time to kill at the tiny Mataram airport. When our friends Brian & Pat had flown from West Timor, they had told us how they had been made to sit on the scales and be weighed before boarding the plane. When the same thing happened to us, it wasn’t quite the shock it might have been, but it was still very strange. Watching Debs slide about on the rollers on the scales was hilarious. How they got an accurate reading is beyond me! Safely weighed and informed that we were 4.5kg over (4.5kg over what?), the check-in staff let us go through. This weighing procedure wasn’t repeated on the other flights we took, so perhaps it is only on the short propeller powered flights.
Flying on a Fokker F50 was quite exciting as we hadn’t been on one before. Our flight carrier ‘Indonesian Air Transport’ didn’t sound too special, but the plane seemed to be brand new and the flight duration of only about 15 minutes didn’t give us a lot of time to be worried. Arriving on time at Denpasar airport, Bali we went to check our bags in for the onward flight to Yogyakarta. As we had arrived at 9:30am, we knew we had a reasonable wait until our flight left at 1pm. We weren’t quite prepared for being told that the flight had been delayed by 3 hours! To be fair to Garuda Air, we were all given a meal voucher for the restaurant, which is more than a lot of airlines would have done. In the end the time went fairly quickly, although we were going slightly stir crazy by the time we came to board. With no further delays we arrived in Yogyakarta airport after about an hour, retrieved our bags and went to meet our lift to the hotel.

Next: Yogyakarta

Peramatour: Flores to Lombok

Day 4:
Breakfast is served as we approach Rinca Island. The seas between the islands have been considerably calmer than the previous few days, so we arrive at the island at 8:30am. It is nice to see that Rinca Island has a jetty so we don’t have to use the dinghy to get to the island. After the relative disappointment of Komodo Island, we are not sure what to expect from Rinca. We go to meet some rangers who will take us on a walk through the park, although this time their English is better. Starting at the main camp we once again come face to face with several resident Komodos, although this time there is a lot more of them and they appear to be more active. The setting of the camp is also much nicer; in fact from the start, the whole island seems a lot more attractive than Komodo. Following the trail from the camp we are lucky enough to see several dragons on and around the path. The trail takes us through jungle and up into more open savannah like scenery. The vegetation and scenery are stunning as we climb up a hill to get a beautiful view of the island and its surrounding seas. Back at the camp we get to see some smaller dragons and as we head back to the boat we encounter one more sitting on the rocks near the jetty. Although it means longer on the boat, we are already glad that we decided to do the return journey. Rinca has been a definite highlight; apart from the name it is a surprise that Komodo remains the more famous island.
From Rinca Island we sailed to Gili Laba to do some more snorkelling. This time the dinghy wasn’t used as we could jump straight from the boat and swim to the nearby reef. We were told that there was the possibility of seeing stingrays in this area but we weren’t lucky enough to see any. Nevertheless the snorkelling was again excellent, with crystal clear waters and beautiful coral.
The rest of the day was spent sailing towards Moyo Island where we would visit a village and waterfall the next day. The only thing that marred what had been a good day was when a cockroach fell from underneath my bunk and landed on my chest while I was reading my book. A quick inspection later and more were discovered, so evacuating the room while the crew sprayed we eventually ended up with a roach free room. We did hear more complaints of cockroaches elsewhere after the spraying, so they clearly just moved on!

Day 5:
As the weather had been bad during the night, we arrived on Moyo Island a little behind schedule. After breakfast we climbed into the dinghy, this time bound for Labuan Haji village on Moyo Island. As so far we had encountered very few locals, it was really nice to see children playing on the beach and a gathering of the villagers waiting to greet us. Once we were all safely on the island we followed a local guide to a nearby waterfall and swimming area. The waterfall was equipped with a rope swing into the pool below. After a demonstration by Effendi, we are pleased to say that we were the first ones to have a go. The water was refreshingly cool and the rope swing was great fun. Once again, the return trip had started out much better than the outward one.
Returning to the village we waved goodbye to the villagers and got back on the boat heading for Keramat Island. This was to be our final stop before we reached Lombok, so we spent the next hour snorkelling around the tiny island. One of the more curious things we encountered during our snorkelling was a tiny fish that seemed quite happy to sit in our hands and hover directly in front of our masks. Tired from swimming around, we climbed back aboard the boat for the final leg of the tour. Perhaps it was because we knew that we were nearly back, but the last bit seemed to take ages. By the time we had docked, said goodbye to the crew, got our gear loaded on the bus and set off, it was already 9pm and we still had a 2 hour drive to Senggigi. It was with some relief when we finally made it back to Rajah’s Bungalows and collapsed into bed.

We must mention that the Perama boat crew were all great; they tried there best to make sure we were ok at all times. Most of what happened on the outward journey can only really be blamed on the weather. The return journey was for us much better than the outward one and if we were doing it again, we would probably fly to Flores and then take the boat back. The main problem with the trip is that the distance is too far, the boat is probably not big enough and there is no built in allowance for bad weather. One of our fellow passengers wrote a letter of complaint, and received a reply from Mr Perama himself, who rather strangely denied everything and blamed global warming! Quite how global warming overloads a dinghy, hides the life jackets and capsizes a boat, will clearly remain a mystery.
If you see this Dennis, send me a copy of the email and I will publish it.

Next: Back to Senggigi, the onwards to Yogyakarta

Peramatour: Lombok to Flores

Day 1:
As Rajah’s Bungalows turned out to be quite close to a mosque, there was no chance of oversleeping as we were woken up by the call to prayer. A refreshingly cold wake up shower later and we set off for the Perama office to join the tour. We loaded our gear on the bus and climbed on board for the short trip to Mataram (Lombok’s capital city), where we would pick up some more people and rather confusingly collect what sounded like ‘a nice dessert!’ The nice dessert turned out to be a nice T-shirt, which on seeing, we would rather it had been a nice desert! After about 30 minutes of hanging around the Mataram office we set off again, this time to visit a shopping mall. The purpose of visiting the shopping mall remained a mystery to us all, although I did manage to get an Indonesian sim card for my phone. Our first proper stop was to Masbagik pottery village, where were treated to a demonstration of traditional pottery by one of the local ladies. Apparently barring two men, all of the potters are women and while not from the village, our guide Effendi’s attempt at pottery gave a good demonstration of why this is true.
From the pottery village we made a brief stop to get some Bantal cakes (pillow cakes); a local snack made of rice and banana wrapped in a vine leaf. It is always good to try new things, but we can’t say that we would rush to have Bantal cakes again; it is not that they are horrid, just bland! Our next stop was at Perama docking, to see where the boats were built and to get a better idea of the route we would be taking. From the docking it was a short trip to Labuan Lombok harbour, where we got on board our boat.
Once everyone was on board we were taken to what turned out to be the world’s smallest cabin. We are so glad we had left our big bags behind; anyone claustrophobic would be better off sleeping on deck, or at the very least avoiding the very tight bottom bunk. With everyone’s gear stowed away we were served a cold buffet lunch and set sail for Perama Island (anyone noticing a pattern here?). Perama Island is tiny; you can walk around the outside in about 15 minutes. It is not actually owned by the Perama Company, but they have maintained it and have introduced a coral replanting program, so have been given care of it by the Indonesian government. Unfortunately when we arrived the currents surrounding the island were very strong, so we were only able to do a little snorkelling; nevertheless what we could see was stunning.
Later that evening we enjoyed a BBQ on the beach and we were then treated to a not always tuneful sing-along, led by the crew. It was when they played the company song that things started to take a turn for the strange. The song lyrics, conjured up images of Mr Perama as either a genius bond villain living in an island retreat or as some kind of evangelical figure. The company dance that followed, complete with a carefully choreographed dance routine just added to the strangeness. After a short demonstration, we were all invited to join in the dance, with hilarious results. In the end, the evening was great fun, but it would be better if the dance only lasted for a few verses instead of the overlong ten. Very few of us were still dancing by the end and even some of the crew had dropped out.
At about 9pm the dinghy carried us back to the boat and we all settled in for the night as the boat set sail for Satonda Island.

Day 2:
The plan was to visit a salt water lake on Satonda Island and then get back on the boat for breakfast before heading off to a small village for a visit. The sea had been quite rough during the night and the waves were still quite large as the small dinghy carried us six at a time to the island. Safely on the island we had a short walk to the salt lake and enjoyed a morning swim. It was on the return journey that things started to go wrong. Debs and I were on the first dinghy trip back to the boat and although we got very wet, we made it safely back to the boat and settled down to breakfast. Unfortunately the next group of people had to swim for the boat when the clearly overloaded dinghy started to sink in the rough water. Obviously not expecting the boat to capsize and not wanting to leave their gear unattended on the boat this ended up in a few destroyed cameras, mp3 players, phones etc. The dinghy was recovered, but the engine would not restart, leaving the rest of the passengers stranded on the beach. Using our dry bags, two of the people who made it to the boat on the first trip, swam back with some breakfast for the starving people on the beach. After a lengthy delay the engine finally started and everyone was slowly delivered back to the boat, so we could finally get underway. The sad thing is that the whole thing could have been avoided if they didn’t insist on overloading the boat; life jackets would be nice as well. The worst thing about the incident was that the crew really didn’t seem to have any idea what to do. It was the passengers who got food to the others and in one instance dived in to assist a struggling crew member.
The delay ended any further stops for the day, so the rest of the time was spent travelling towards Komodo in quite rough seas. Good job we had books with us!

Day 3:
Breakfast first today! Today was to be one of the highlights of the trip as we would hopefully get to see Komodo dragons in the wild. Getting to the island involved getting in the dinghy again, but mysteriously this time they only took four people at a time! The dinghy was then joined by a larger boat so we were all safely on the island in double quick time. Having been warned by our guides that we may not see any Komodo dragons, we kept our fingers crossed and went to meet the rangers who would do their best to find some for us. Starting in the main camp area, amazingly, we came face to face with two fully grown Komodo Dragons! Why park rangers feel the need to pretend that you may not see anything, when they know that there will always be at least two near the camp hoping to be fed, is completely beyond us. It doesn’t build up suspense; it just makes you feel cheated. Having seen the dragons asleep in the camp we hoped to see some more on the 5 km walk through the island. The trek set off at a breakneck pace with information given to the closest people only, by an incomprehensible guide. On route we came across some deer and wild boar but as yet no Komodo dragons. The trail eventually led us to a dried up river bed where Komodo Dragons used to be fed for the tourists. We were then informed that they don’t come here anymore, so the reason for going there escapes me, unless you want to read the sign telling you about what you aren’t going to see!
Back at the camp we were lucky enough to see a juvenile dragon running through the trees (while they are young, they resemble the smaller monitor lizards). After a few more photos of the sleeping dragons we got back on the boat headed for Red beach.
Red beach lived up to its name and was indeed red, and the waters surrounding it had some beautiful coral and fish. We spent an hour resting and snorkelling, glad to be off the boat after the epic journey yesterday.
The rough seas had delayed our journey by several hours, so instead of arriving in Flores at around 3:30pm we actually got there at about 7pm. It was time to say goodbye to the people leaving the trip and for those doing the return leg, we were told that we should be back on board by 7:30pm for dinner! With a bit of persuasion the crew agreed to pick us up at 9:00pm and a group of us got in the dinghy to be taken to Labuan Bajo. While we understand that the Perama Company has no permanent mooring in Flores, there has to be somewhere better to drop off their passengers than at the slippery rocked, poorly lit, garbage and cockroach infested bit of land that they use. Feeling completely like smugglers, we set off to find a restaurant in what is clearly not a particularly bustling town. Whether it was just the fact that the food was hot, or that the drinks were cold, the restaurant that we found, produced one of the nicest meals we have had for a while. Feeling better, we met the dinghy and got back on the boat to meet the new passengers who would join us on the return leg. Fortunately we were just in time to see the company dance again!
With no sailing tonight we settled in for the quietest night on the boat yet. Tomorrow was to be our second chance to see Komodo dragons; this time on Rinca Island.

Next: Peramatour, Flores to Lombok

Senggigi, Lombok

Our journey to Lombok began at 5:30am when we were picked up by the Peramatour bus, bound for the harbour. On arrival at the ferry port, our bags were taken by two people who we presumed to be Peramatour staff, but unfortunately turned out to be opportunistic porters. Debs managed to catch up with her porter and wrestle back her bag back, but mine was too fast. There then followed an altercation near the steps of the ferry, where I refused to pay the ridiculous price that the porters wanted, for a service we didn’t ask for! Following threats, shoving and the eventual acceptance of a small amount of rupiah, we were allowed to board. So far, the ferry was turning out to be a wonderful choice of transport! Four hours of loud, distorted, Indonesian karaoke music later and we arrived in Lombok, or at least we would have if the ferry didn’t have to wait for another hour to dock. By the time we eventually arrived in Senggigi, it was about 4pm and the hunt for somewhere to stay began. We eventually found the very nice Rajah’s Bungalows and checked into a lovely hut with attached outdoor bathroom. As we were off on a five day tour starting the next day, we packed smaller bags and arranged to leave our other luggage with the guesthouse for our return.
From what we saw of Senggigi on our one evening there, it seemed like a very nice little coastal resort. There are plenty of bars and restaurants and more than a few trinket salesmen; again the lack of tourists doesn’t help. We did buy a few cheap necklaces, which unfortunately had the effect of announcing our presence as people with money. A bit of a scramble ensued, but it was quite good-natured and the lads were quite happy to just have a chat. They even managed to get the hint that they should leave when we were trying to eat our dinner!

Next: Peramatour, Lombok to Flores

Bali

Arriving at Bali airport during the early evening, we joined the queues of people at immigration. As is often the case, we managed to join the slowest moving one and after watching Debs breeze through I was quite surprised to have the immigration official beckon me over and ask for money. To tell the truth, he then smiled and laughed afterwards, but in a country that carries the death penalty for drug smuggling, I failed to see the joke. Slightly annoyed and already thinking ‘welcome to Indonesia’, the rest of the security checks went without a hitch.
We had already arranged an airport pickup with the hotel, so the short journey to Kuta beach was pain free, right up to the moment when we were dropped at the wrong hotel! As it turned out, there was a problem with the room at the ‘Green Garden Hotel’, so they had upgraded us free of charge to one of there partner hotels. The ‘Febris’ hotel turned out to be beautiful, with one of the nicest rooms we have stayed in, a very nice pool, spa and massage facilities for Debs and a good restaurant.
After a very comfortable nights sleep, we headed out to have a look at the town and to find the Peramatour office so that we could pay for our Indonesian island tour. After the quiet of Malaysia the amount of touts and stall holders, trying to part us from our cash came as a bit of a shock. The situation certainly wasn’t helped by the lack of tourists staying on the island. From what we heard during our stay, the situation has barely improved since the Bali bombings and the locals feel largely abandoned by the Australian people. Finding the Peramatour office, we paid for our trip and booked the ferry that would take us to Lombok. With the next part of the journey sorted, we stopped for a look around the very modern ‘Discovery Mall’, bought some more very cheap copy DVDs and then went back to the hotel to relax.

During the remainder of our stay in Bali we booked on a one day island tour that took us first to a very entertaining Barong dance show. The show was performed in a beautiful open air theatre, with a small temple as its back drop. From the dance we visited a batik workshop (where we didn’t buy anything), an art gallery (where we did buy something), a silver workshop (yet another purchase) and a wood carving place (where, at the quoted prices we laughed, shook our heads sadly and walked out, pursued by the salesman). The next part of the tour involved a visit to a not very impressive waterfall, an interesting stop at Goa Gajah (elephant cave temple) and then to a Sribatu, a garden where we sampled some very nice tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
After an early start, we were both ready for lunch and it couldn’t have been served in a more pleasant location, overlooking the active volcano Mount Batur. From here we stopped at Sebatu (the spring water temple), before heading to GWK (the home of Bali’s highest statue). GWK (sorry, no idea what it stands for) is a tale of promising more than you can deliver. The original plan was to build an enormous statue, but unfortunately they ran out of money, so it was never finished. Nevertheless, what they did complete gives some idea of the truly staggering scale of the proposed statue.
With the light fading we rushed to Uluwatu, a temple perched high on a cliff top (with more than its fair share of thieving macaques) to watch the sunset on what had been an enjoyable but tiring day.
Apart from relaxing around the pool, we did a bit more shopping and spent a fun afternoon at the entertaining but expensive ‘WaterBom Park’. Before we knew it the week had passed and it was time to say goodbye to Bali and the Febris hotel. Bearing in mind that neither of us had previously shown any interest in coming to Bali, writing it off as the Ibiza of SE Asia, we have had a very nice time. Aside from the touts, who aren’t really worse than at any other holiday resort, the people are really friendly and the island is both interesting and beautiful. We hope that the tourist trade starts to pick up and that there are no further incidents like the ones of 2002, as that truly could spell ‘the end’ for Bali.

Next Senggigi, Lombok

A return to KL

Arriving back in KL we checked back in to the Haven Guesthouse. Our plan was to stay for another day while Debs got her foot checked out at the hospital and then head to Indonesia. The best laid plans unfortunately always seem to go wrong! Debs foot had swollen quite badly while we had been away, so the doctor decided to try and drain some fluid and then pump the wound full of alcohol to stop any infection. This was agony and she could barely walk afterwards! Naughty Dr. Nandy!! Her foot had not healed as he would have liked, so we were asked to come back the next day.
Unfortunately on our return the next day and with Debs still in pain, we were asked to come back after the weekend, which as it was a public holiday in Malaysia meant Tuesday. Our one day back in KL quickly turned into six days, so we had to try and find things to keep us occupied.
With no real plan for our time in Indonesia, our extended stay became the ideal opportunity to plan the next leg. With slightly less time than we had planned, we decided to miss out Sumatra and head straight for Bali. Over the internet we booked our flights and a nice hotel in Kuta beach. From Bali we would travel to Lombok on the ferry and then take the Peramatour boat to Flores. As our time was limited we decided it would be best to book the return journey on the boat and so in total we would spend five days touring the islands. From Lombok we hope to get to Java and then eventually fly to Singapore on around the 26/06, giving us 4 days before we left for New Zealand.
With the next leg planned we spent the rest of the time going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3, shopping (again), sending parcels home and viewing the city from the KL tower (the fourth tallest in the world). We would have liked to go to the Petrosains museum, but due to the start of the Malaysian school holidays it was booked solid, so maybe next time. Our opinion of KL hasn’t changed; it is still a really nice city and ‘the Haven’ is still a great guesthouse. Maybe next time we will see it under different circumstances!

Next: We finally make it to Indonesia

Bako national park

Taking a bus and then a boat from Kuching we arrived at Bako, Sarawak’s oldest national park. The national park has been in existence since 1957 and occupies an area of only 27sq km. Due to its comparatively small size it is probably the best place to see wildlife in Sarawak.
After registering at the park’s main office, we checked into what turned out to be a very large bungalow carefully avoiding any incidents with the resident macaques. The macaques hang around the camp looking for food or anyone stupid enough to leave a door or window open. The park rangers seem to look upon them as a tourist attraction and enormous pain at the same time. As we arrived in good time, and having read that the early evening is a good time to see proboscis monkeys, we set off on a short trek to try and spot some wildlife. The trail that we initially followed rather came to an end as it disappeared into the mangrove forest, so turning around we headed back towards the camp, encountering a beautiful Rofous Backed Kingfisher on the way. It was on our return that we had our first encounter with the proboscis monkeys. Standing as quietly as possible on hearing the crash of vegetation, we caught the odd glimpse and heard the strange honking sound of male proboscis monkeys. After standing and watching for a while it became apparent that we weren’t going to get a better view, so happy with our brief encounter we returned to camp.
While walking on the beach to watch the sunset we bumped into a couple from the longhouse trip who were also staying in the park. Later that evening we joined them for dinner and then organised to go on a short night safari. The night safari started early for Debs when she came face to face with a Bornean bearded pig (Bako’s largest mammal) on the way to our room to get ready! During the safari our guide did his best to point things out, but the animals weren’t really playing along. We did see a large stick insect, several spiders and a rather frightening looking centipede hunting a gecko, but the nocturnal mammals remained elusive. As we headed back to the camp the guide took us to see the fireflies near the harbour and what appears to be the camp’s resident snake, a Wagler’s pit viper. I say ‘resident’, because in the next few days it was always to be found sitting on the same branch, in the same tree near the camp.

The next day we decided that we would attempt the ‘Big Loop’, a circuit made by linking many of the shorter trails. The loop was supposed to take about 7 hours, but we had been informed by several people that they had done it in 5-6 hours, without rushing. Loaded up with as much water as we could carry and some snacks for the journey we set off, our first destination being Tajor waterfall some 3km from the camp. The waterfall is not overly impressive but there is a nice, although somewhat murky, swimming area. However, the large amounts of pitcher plants hanging from the trees on either side of the main trail were far more impressive. Along the course of the trail we saw three different kinds of pitcher plant; Nepenthes Rafflesiana, Nepenthes Gracilis and Nepenthes Ampullaria.
It was from the waterfall that the walk became less fun. The trail started to climb steeply and the temperature and humidity rose dramatically. We would like to say that we enjoyed the remainder of the trail, but partly due to Debs’ foot not being fully recovered and an eventual lack of water, we would be lying. In all honesty there is nothing along the big loop that you can’t see on the other shorter trails (apart from one type of pitcher plant) and unless you are feeling particularly masochistic there is no real point. Incidentally it took us all of the 7 hours to complete with very few stops, so we can only assume that the people we spoke to either ran all the way or missed some off! When we eventually made it back we were too tired and hot to do anything else, so we had an early evening meal and a very early night.

Our third day at Bako was spent at a much more leisurely pace. I had a short trek up to a nearby viewpoint encountering a few, very well camouflaged, lizards along the trail. Debs meanwhile spent most of the day recovering from the excesses of the day before. Later that afternoon we walked to the mangrove forest to try and see some proboscis monkeys. Staying as quiet as possible (something that Asians don’t seem to understand) we were fortunate enough to see several as they came out of the jungle to feed. The monkeys remain very wary of humans and at the slightest noise will disappear. For the main part they stayed just out of camera range and it was more by luck, that we got any pictures at all. It was a great experience seeing these rare creatures in the wild and one that we will never forget.

True to his word, our boatman remembered to pick us up on the last day and ferried us back to the mainland. Our stay at Bako was great; the trails are well marked, the rain forest is beautiful and you have a very real chance of seeing animals. The only slight downers on the experience are that the restaurant while not expensive is terrible; they cook once a day and then expect it to stay hot for the remainder of the time and water is stupidly expensive.
The minibus took us back to Kuching where we got on another bus bound for the airport. Our time in Borneo had come to an end and it was time to return to Kuala Lumpur, before heading onwards to Indonesia.

Next: A return to KL

A return to kuching

Arriving back in Kuching and checking into Carpenters GH again, it was nice to have a hot shower, a comfy air conditioned room with proper beds and absolutely no cockerels! Following a quick meal in the nearby Chinese restaurant, it was time to return to the guesthouse to try and catch up on some sleep.
Through the guesthouse we had booked on ‘Bumbu’ cookery course for the next day. So after a lazy morning we met up with our instructors and set off for the local market to get supplies for the meal. It is always nice to do a market tour with people who know what everything is; our knowledge is certainly increasing, but we still encounter the odd thing that we are not sure of. With our baskets loaded with supplies we headed to the kitchen to begin our lesson. The meal cooked in the class changes everyday; we would be cooking chicken and potato curry Malaysian style and fern cooked with chilli and shrimp paste (Debs not being a fish lover gave the shrimp paste a miss). For dessert we were having fresh pineapple and a coconut jelly desert that tasted very similar to Blancmange. The class was very entertaining, especially as it took place within a traditional family home. Debs, who is not known for her cooking confidence, got well stuck in, with only one slight moment of panic during the frying stages and the meal we produced was really good. After countless hotels and restaurants it was really nice to be eating a meal that we had prepared ourselves, albeit under the watchful eye of our instructors. Feeling slightly over full, we said goodbye to our hosts and returned to the guesthouse.
Our last full day in Kuching was spent booking accommodation at Bako National Park, return flights to mainland Malaysia and visiting the large Sunday market (for some reason the Sunday market starts on Saturday). We have had a really good time in Kuching, but the promise of rainforest, pitcher plants and rare proboscis monkeys beckons, so our next stop is Bako National Park.

Next: Bako NP