After 9 fantastic weeks in Perth, we left Wednesday for our winter in the central west fishing. It was hard to go becuase we realise it's the first time in many, many years we've had so much family all in one place (and it will probably never happen again).
Our departure was delayed when we discovered one of the van's stabilising legs had seized up. Russ had to remove it, drive to the suburb of Welshpool to get a new one, then come home and fit it. I wasn't too upset as it gave me more time with Dan, Verity and Kobie who had come over to say goodbye.
We had an easy drive to Dongara where we'd planned to book into the Big4 we have stayed at several times before. It came as a bit of a shock to find it booked out. We ended up staying in another park closer to town-it wasn't as sparkling clean but it was fun. We could have stayed for free if we'd taken the boat off and taken the manager out craying, but it's too much like hard work for a couple of days.
Today we drove 110kms to Northampton (just passed Geraldton) where we'll stay a couple of nights. This park looks a bit tired too, but just changed management a week ago and they are working their butts off to clean it up. You could eat your breakfast off the ablution block floor. It cost us $20 for the first night and $15 for every one ofter that. It's $2 for a load of washing. It's cheap.
Coming through Geraldton, we stopped and bought 3kg of tomatoes, 4 large green capsicums, 2 fresh corn, 2 zucc, a bag of apples and a pumpkin for $11. Here in Northampton we bought honey, grapefruit marmalade, organic oranges and lemons for $15. I reckon we have enough food to tide us over for a very long time now!
Tomorrow we are going to pack a picnic and go out to Horricks Beach to have a fish and check it out for next time we are up (or down) this way. We've heard it's excellent and the park out there is good too.
Sunday we are booked at Shark Bay (Denham) for a month and I'm excited to have an ensuite again as I love that part of the park. Brice will be arriving for about the last 10 days of our stay.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Perth-the Last Day
Kobie 6 Weeks Old
Tomorrow we head to Denham for the month of June. We'll stop in Dongara tomorrow night and try to catch up with Gary Shanahan in Geraldton for a couple of nights after that. I went to primary school with Gary and we met him in Bitter Springs NT last year.
We had dinner and spent the night with my Recipezaar friend Pat Friday night which was great-lots of yummy seafood, good wine and much talking. Saturday we had a quiet day at home, then Sunday Dan, Verity and Kobie came over and I cooked us all Indian (coconut curried veg, quail in Indian spices, butter chicken and rice) AND I made dessert-a raspberry trifle cake (which was yummy).
On Monday (yesterday), Dan and Verity brought lunch over here then we went to their place for dinner last night. Dan cooked us Guiness stew and garlic mash, then we had apple crumble. I got to bath baby Kobie which was very grandmotherly for us both!
Blair flew to Melbourne last Monday for work and Leah joined him on Friday. They found themselves a three bedroom townhouse in South Yarra to rent so are very pleased with themselves. It has a couple of courtyards and they are able to take the dog and cat which has thrilled Leah. It's a gorgeous house and we can't wait to sit the pets for them. Blair starts work next week, Leah will join him two weeks later.
Todd is most likely moving into an apartment here in Perth and this house (with its perfect van park) will be rented out-he's been offered the next job like his that comes up in Melbourne. Mick is moving back to Warrnambool at the end of August (and then flying to South Africa and the US) and Dan and Verity will move to Melbourne when his restaurant is sold they think. So most of our family are on the move again. I'm so glad we got to spend all this time in WA and all this time with the boys, partners, babies dogs and cats! I'll miss them all so much and I'll miss the pool, high speed wireless internet, foxtel and the food channel!
I'm busy washing bed linen and matress and pillow protectors while Russ shops, then tonight we are off out to The Tamarind with Blair, Leah, Todd and Chris and Carly.
Tomorrow we head to Denham for the month of June. We'll stop in Dongara tomorrow night and try to catch up with Gary Shanahan in Geraldton for a couple of nights after that. I went to primary school with Gary and we met him in Bitter Springs NT last year.
We had dinner and spent the night with my Recipezaar friend Pat Friday night which was great-lots of yummy seafood, good wine and much talking. Saturday we had a quiet day at home, then Sunday Dan, Verity and Kobie came over and I cooked us all Indian (coconut curried veg, quail in Indian spices, butter chicken and rice) AND I made dessert-a raspberry trifle cake (which was yummy).
On Monday (yesterday), Dan and Verity brought lunch over here then we went to their place for dinner last night. Dan cooked us Guiness stew and garlic mash, then we had apple crumble. I got to bath baby Kobie which was very grandmotherly for us both!
Blair flew to Melbourne last Monday for work and Leah joined him on Friday. They found themselves a three bedroom townhouse in South Yarra to rent so are very pleased with themselves. It has a couple of courtyards and they are able to take the dog and cat which has thrilled Leah. It's a gorgeous house and we can't wait to sit the pets for them. Blair starts work next week, Leah will join him two weeks later.
Todd is most likely moving into an apartment here in Perth and this house (with its perfect van park) will be rented out-he's been offered the next job like his that comes up in Melbourne. Mick is moving back to Warrnambool at the end of August (and then flying to South Africa and the US) and Dan and Verity will move to Melbourne when his restaurant is sold they think. So most of our family are on the move again. I'm so glad we got to spend all this time in WA and all this time with the boys, partners, babies dogs and cats! I'll miss them all so much and I'll miss the pool, high speed wireless internet, foxtel and the food channel!
I'm busy washing bed linen and matress and pillow protectors while Russ shops, then tonight we are off out to The Tamarind with Blair, Leah, Todd and Chris and Carly.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Perth
We got 4 new tyres yesterday (well, 3 and put the spare on for the first time). Russ hit a power pole backing the car out of the tyre place though which was a bit of a nusiance. We also took the car into a Nissan dealer close by as it was idling fast again (which is usually the lead up to it cutting out). They identified the problem with the retro fitted cruise control and fixed it immediately. It was great as we've had it into two other dealers who couldn't find the problem.
Our microwave is repaired and re-installed in the van and Russ saw a dentist today. He has another appointment on Friday. Tomorrow I see a dentist which is lucky since that tooth broke again. Tomorrow the rear bumper is getting repaired.
Mick and Verity will be over for dinner tomorrowe night (Leah and Todd won't be home) then Friday Russ and I are sleeping over at Pat and Chris's place (Pat is my recipezaar buddy). Sunday Mick, Dan and Verity will be over for dinner again, then we'll be off up north Tuesday or Wednesday. So it's a very busy time between now and leaving!
Our microwave is repaired and re-installed in the van and Russ saw a dentist today. He has another appointment on Friday. Tomorrow I see a dentist which is lucky since that tooth broke again. Tomorrow the rear bumper is getting repaired.
Mick and Verity will be over for dinner tomorrowe night (Leah and Todd won't be home) then Friday Russ and I are sleeping over at Pat and Chris's place (Pat is my recipezaar buddy). Sunday Mick, Dan and Verity will be over for dinner again, then we'll be off up north Tuesday or Wednesday. So it's a very busy time between now and leaving!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Perth
It was lovely to get home to Perth and see all the boys, Leah and Verity and Kobie.
Last night we went to Piccolo in North Perth where Dan started two weeks ago as head chef. We went along with Verity, her parents Greg and Gaynor, grandmother Bet Bet, Mick, Allan and his partner Jill. It was a great night and I'm so proud of Dan and his food.
He sent out a delicious antipasto platter (two actually) that included duck, quail, chorizo, spiced prawns, pate, Persian fetta and olives, then I had slow cooked pork belly with a salt and rosemary rub, Russ had 1kg of chili garlic mussels, then a cheese platter whil I chose an oven roasted merlot pear.
Kobie has grown heaps since we went away and it was lovely to see him again.
We have a busy week this week with tyres for the car, dentist appointments and some stuff for the kids to do. Lucky I made the dentist's appointment as my tooth fell to bits again last night!
Last night we went to Piccolo in North Perth where Dan started two weeks ago as head chef. We went along with Verity, her parents Greg and Gaynor, grandmother Bet Bet, Mick, Allan and his partner Jill. It was a great night and I'm so proud of Dan and his food.
He sent out a delicious antipasto platter (two actually) that included duck, quail, chorizo, spiced prawns, pate, Persian fetta and olives, then I had slow cooked pork belly with a salt and rosemary rub, Russ had 1kg of chili garlic mussels, then a cheese platter whil I chose an oven roasted merlot pear.
Kobie has grown heaps since we went away and it was lovely to see him again.
We have a busy week this week with tyres for the car, dentist appointments and some stuff for the kids to do. Lucky I made the dentist's appointment as my tooth fell to bits again last night!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Kuala Lumpur
Our last day of the holiday was spent using the last hours of the Hop On Hop Off ticket. We caught the bus to China Town and had a lovely time looking around there. We had to laugh at one Aus couple who took a look at the place and decided not to get off the bus!
We got home round 2.30 so Russ headed down to the the pool while I decided to stay inside in the aircon. It's quite a bit hotter here than Langkawi and I needed a rest after all the walking over the last two days.
KL is great with its mix of old colonial buildings, huge modern sky scrapers, ethnic areas and great shopping and food. It’s so much cleaner than Bangkok and I find it more interesting than Tokyo. I wish we had an extra night or two so we hadn't had to pack so much into our two days. e liked to take a tour out of the city to have a look. I asked for our hotel to be situated near cheap eateries and shopping malls and I don't think it could have been better placed for those.
Kuala Lumpur
We went down to breakfast (which was great), then back up to our room intending to send another e-mail about the stuff up yesterday. The front desk rang before we’d done it to let us know they had sorted it all out and had been paid. It certainly made us feel better. Looking back to day one I Langkawi, we wonder if the two rooms there was where the mistake happened.
The KL Cat Man
While we were walking around, we came across the KL Cat Man who rescues cats. He encourages you to stop, pat the cats and ask questions and then give a donation if you wish. We gave 5 RM which seemed to please him a lot and he was very happy to talk about his 72 cats and explain a few things to us. I had wondered why so many cats have bob tails and now know they are related to a Japanese breed.
KL Tower
After that we went and did a bit of shopping, then walked to the KL tower to take a look. As we headed up the hill to it, we spotted a Hop On Hop Off double decker bus and after visiting the tower we bought our tickets and off we went. The tower has fantastic views and as usual we got the audio to go along with it so it was really good. The bus ticket was so cheap (especially with Russ being so old) and they are valid for 24 hours. It's a great way to get around and we have used the buses in Rome, Paris and London. We like the bit of commentary you get along the way.
It was 1.15 when we got on the bus and around 5.15 when we got off and went and did some more shopping before dinner. Kuala Lumpur has some amazing shopping centres and there are 5 huge ones right near here (we visited three today). In the one we’ve been to twice, there are 100 new stores on level 6 alone. While we aren’t big shoppers, we really love window shopping and comparing prices to home, so find it very entertaining.
Russ and an Indian Blue Ringed Parrot
Along the bus route, we stopped for 1 ½ hours at the KL Bird Park. It was pretty good as it contained mostly Asian, Indian and Northern Australian birds in reasonable conditions mostly.
A Flock of Flamingos
We also stopped off at the KL twin towers but were too late to get a ticket-there is a big demand for the free tickets to the observation bridge that runs between the two towers.
KL Petronas Twin Towers
After shopping we found a Moroccan restaurant close to our hotel. It was really, really good. I especially loved the hommus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh and fattosh we had with warm flat bread for starters. We followed that with chicken biryani, lamb tajine, more bread, and lemon and mint juice. All this cost us $32. We haven't been to one since we were in NZ with Todd, Ryan and Blair and this was equally as good. It was pretty entertaining too when the gay Malaysian waiter threw a huge hissy fit, stripped off his waiting clothes, changed and flounced out! Our order got a bit mixed up after that and I had eaten a few mouthfuls of delicious lamb biryani before it clicked that I'd ordered the tajine.
KL Tower from Outside Our Hotel
The KL Cat Man
While we were walking around, we came across the KL Cat Man who rescues cats. He encourages you to stop, pat the cats and ask questions and then give a donation if you wish. We gave 5 RM which seemed to please him a lot and he was very happy to talk about his 72 cats and explain a few things to us. I had wondered why so many cats have bob tails and now know they are related to a Japanese breed.
KL Tower
After that we went and did a bit of shopping, then walked to the KL tower to take a look. As we headed up the hill to it, we spotted a Hop On Hop Off double decker bus and after visiting the tower we bought our tickets and off we went. The tower has fantastic views and as usual we got the audio to go along with it so it was really good. The bus ticket was so cheap (especially with Russ being so old) and they are valid for 24 hours. It's a great way to get around and we have used the buses in Rome, Paris and London. We like the bit of commentary you get along the way.
It was 1.15 when we got on the bus and around 5.15 when we got off and went and did some more shopping before dinner. Kuala Lumpur has some amazing shopping centres and there are 5 huge ones right near here (we visited three today). In the one we’ve been to twice, there are 100 new stores on level 6 alone. While we aren’t big shoppers, we really love window shopping and comparing prices to home, so find it very entertaining.
Russ and an Indian Blue Ringed Parrot
Along the bus route, we stopped for 1 ½ hours at the KL Bird Park. It was pretty good as it contained mostly Asian, Indian and Northern Australian birds in reasonable conditions mostly.
A Flock of Flamingos
We also stopped off at the KL twin towers but were too late to get a ticket-there is a big demand for the free tickets to the observation bridge that runs between the two towers.
KL Petronas Twin Towers
After shopping we found a Moroccan restaurant close to our hotel. It was really, really good. I especially loved the hommus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh and fattosh we had with warm flat bread for starters. We followed that with chicken biryani, lamb tajine, more bread, and lemon and mint juice. All this cost us $32. We haven't been to one since we were in NZ with Todd, Ryan and Blair and this was equally as good. It was pretty entertaining too when the gay Malaysian waiter threw a huge hissy fit, stripped off his waiting clothes, changed and flounced out! Our order got a bit mixed up after that and I had eaten a few mouthfuls of delicious lamb biryani before it clicked that I'd ordered the tajine.
KL Tower from Outside Our Hotel
Kuala Lumpur
We had a good flight to Kuala Lumpur and were met at the airport by our Mayflower driver. It’s a big drive to the city-45 minutes down toll ways at speeds mostly round 120kmh so I imagine it was 60 or 70ks. We passed lots of coconut plantations and lots (and lots) of new housing (thousands and thousands of apartment buildings and townhouses). They were scary in their sameness.
On arrival at the hotel, we were really impressed until we discovered they didn’t have a booking for us! So, we have now had to pay again while we wait (hopefully) for it to be sorted out. The travel company here (Mayflower) claims to have no money sent for accommodation for us in KL, only transfers!
The hotel is way better than we two povey pensioners have ever stayed in before-the bathroom is enourmous and beautiful with lights and mirrors and huge bath and separate shower-the whole thing is as big as a bedroom. We look directly out our tenth floor window at the twin towers of KL. They are amongst the tallest buildings in the world and very beautiful day or night. If we stand right at the window and look left, we can see the KL tower-also very beautiful at night. We also have a monorail station nearby and plan to take a ride on that while we are here. The hotel is right in the middle of a really good shopping (about 5 huge shopping centres) and restaurant district, so now I wish I had more than three nights here!
The View from Our Room
The shops open late, so after finally working out how to connect to the internet, I sent a frantic e-mail to our travel agent in Aus and then we went shopping. We stopped for dinner on the way home and had bbqued pork (the first I’ve seen on a menu), duck, beautiful veg in oyster sauce, rice and prawn dumpling soup, 7up and a Chinese tea for 39RM
Nighttime View KL Twin Towers
On arrival at the hotel, we were really impressed until we discovered they didn’t have a booking for us! So, we have now had to pay again while we wait (hopefully) for it to be sorted out. The travel company here (Mayflower) claims to have no money sent for accommodation for us in KL, only transfers!
The hotel is way better than we two povey pensioners have ever stayed in before-the bathroom is enourmous and beautiful with lights and mirrors and huge bath and separate shower-the whole thing is as big as a bedroom. We look directly out our tenth floor window at the twin towers of KL. They are amongst the tallest buildings in the world and very beautiful day or night. If we stand right at the window and look left, we can see the KL tower-also very beautiful at night. We also have a monorail station nearby and plan to take a ride on that while we are here. The hotel is right in the middle of a really good shopping (about 5 huge shopping centres) and restaurant district, so now I wish I had more than three nights here!
The View from Our Room
The shops open late, so after finally working out how to connect to the internet, I sent a frantic e-mail to our travel agent in Aus and then we went shopping. We stopped for dinner on the way home and had bbqued pork (the first I’ve seen on a menu), duck, beautiful veg in oyster sauce, rice and prawn dumpling soup, 7up and a Chinese tea for 39RM
Nighttime View KL Twin Towers
Langkawi
Eagle Park
Sunday we drove into Kuah again to do the last of the duty free shopping we needed to do and to take a walk around Eagle Park. Fortunately the rain let up enough for us to do it. I can’t get over how much thunder, lightening and rain we’ve seen and been in, then it clears up for a while and off we go. Then it starts again.
Before we shopped, we took ourselves to a hawker’s centre for brunch. We were the only westerners in there but we did see quite a few Hash House Harriers (and also saw some taking the Mangrove Tour the other day too). I had BBQed chicken with rice and chilli and a clear soup, then fried noodles with chicken and prawns in a soy sort of broth and a lime juice (8 RM for all that) then Russ had a Thai mix of fried chicken and egg, chicken ham, braised garlic vegetables, a chicken and veg dish with salted fish 9so lots of little bits) it was a huge plate for 7.50 MR (or under $3). It was a seriously local, scary sort of eating place and we keep waiting for something to kill us, but so far so good (touch wood!).
We swam for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It rained a couple of times, but was lovely in the water. I’ve really enjoyed a swim every afternoon and although I miss the daily massages by the pool we get so cheaply in Bali, I haven’t missed Linda the nosy, intrusive masseur!
Enjoying the Jacuzzi
We’d picked a Thai restaurant for dinner and headed down town only to find it closed, so had to choose again. We went to another Thai/seafood restaurant Difiqi and were really happy with it. It cost the two of us a tiny 19RM for excellent tom yam soup, chilli chicken, gingered beef 2 serves of rice and 2 lime juices. The servings weren’t large, but the food was delicious and so cheap.
Monday we slept late again, then went down town to the Breakfast Station. We both had roti and curry dip, then I had an omelette (capsicum, onion and mushroom) and Russ had coconut rice with various accompaniments (anchovies, chilli seafood, cucumber, peanuts etc. etc.) an iced lemon tea and lime juice and cost was 23 RM.
After a bit of shopping and very nearly buying myself a pair of Calvin Klein prescription glasses for $190 we returned the car to the hire place. I didn’t buy the glasses in the end as I was worried I might be paying a lot for a fake-cheap if they were real though.
Our last dinner at Cactus was good-we had the duck, coconut curried vegetable, black pepper beef and rice for 59RM.
For breakfast on Tuesday morning, we both had the full English.
Sunday we drove into Kuah again to do the last of the duty free shopping we needed to do and to take a walk around Eagle Park. Fortunately the rain let up enough for us to do it. I can’t get over how much thunder, lightening and rain we’ve seen and been in, then it clears up for a while and off we go. Then it starts again.
Before we shopped, we took ourselves to a hawker’s centre for brunch. We were the only westerners in there but we did see quite a few Hash House Harriers (and also saw some taking the Mangrove Tour the other day too). I had BBQed chicken with rice and chilli and a clear soup, then fried noodles with chicken and prawns in a soy sort of broth and a lime juice (8 RM for all that) then Russ had a Thai mix of fried chicken and egg, chicken ham, braised garlic vegetables, a chicken and veg dish with salted fish 9so lots of little bits) it was a huge plate for 7.50 MR (or under $3). It was a seriously local, scary sort of eating place and we keep waiting for something to kill us, but so far so good (touch wood!).
We swam for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It rained a couple of times, but was lovely in the water. I’ve really enjoyed a swim every afternoon and although I miss the daily massages by the pool we get so cheaply in Bali, I haven’t missed Linda the nosy, intrusive masseur!
Enjoying the Jacuzzi
We’d picked a Thai restaurant for dinner and headed down town only to find it closed, so had to choose again. We went to another Thai/seafood restaurant Difiqi and were really happy with it. It cost the two of us a tiny 19RM for excellent tom yam soup, chilli chicken, gingered beef 2 serves of rice and 2 lime juices. The servings weren’t large, but the food was delicious and so cheap.
Monday we slept late again, then went down town to the Breakfast Station. We both had roti and curry dip, then I had an omelette (capsicum, onion and mushroom) and Russ had coconut rice with various accompaniments (anchovies, chilli seafood, cucumber, peanuts etc. etc.) an iced lemon tea and lime juice and cost was 23 RM.
After a bit of shopping and very nearly buying myself a pair of Calvin Klein prescription glasses for $190 we returned the car to the hire place. I didn’t buy the glasses in the end as I was worried I might be paying a lot for a fake-cheap if they were real though.
Our last dinner at Cactus was good-we had the duck, coconut curried vegetable, black pepper beef and rice for 59RM.
For breakfast on Tuesday morning, we both had the full English.
Langkawi
Saturday we slept in, ate a bunch of bananas for breakfast (they are tiny and you’d need three to make one of the bananas we get in Aus) then headed off for a drive to the Langkawi waterfall.
Langkawi Waterfall
The rain was so heavy when we got there, we just took shelter in an old shop for about half an hour looking at the waterfall in the distance, then gave up and drove to KFC back down the road to shelter some more, eat our lunch and use their nice toilets. We got 3 pieces of spicy chicken, 1 zinger burger (smaller than ours) two serves of cheese wedges and two carbonated drinks for just under $9.00 AU.
Black Sand Beach
After that we drove on to the very pretty Black Sand Beach and then home via a stall drying and selling fish. As we pulled up, the owner signed to us to come take a photo-he couldn’t speak any English but was happy for us to take lots of photos (and didn’t expect any money for it).
For dinner we chose the Palace of India in the main eating area of the little village nearby. It was a beautiful restaurant but not a patch on the Indian meal we had on our first night at Taj Mahal. The service was way better, but the food lacked the fresh herbs and spices the other seemed to have. I did really enjoy the onion naan which (according to the menu) had been spanked with fresh coriander leaves. There should be more naan spanked I reckon. We had butter chicken (very tasty), mutton kebabs (a bit dry), potato and pea masala, mixed veggie Raita, rice and the naan and a large bottle of water for 69.50 RM.
It was quite busy driving and eating on the Friday and Saturday as Malaysians are mostly Islamic and that is their weekend. School is in on Sunday and all businesses are open.
Langkawi
Fish Farmers Living in the Mangroves
Friday we had fruit for breakfast in our room, then headed out on a 6 hour Mangrove tour. We travelled there with 6 Netherlanders staying in this hotel, then met an Egyptian couple at the boat.
Our driver and guide spoke really good English and was very knowledgeable about the local fauna and flora, stopping the boatman often to point out various birds, animals and plants-explaining how they were used locally or whether they were poisonous or just how the grew. He was informative, but not a pain in the arse know-it-all. The tripe took us through the mangroves, out into a river then out into the open sea where we could see islands of Thailand. It began to rain in the river and we had to take shelter at a fish farm. I spilled coffee all over myself when a thunder clap sounded right over our head! When we reached the open sea, it was quite rough, so we all ended up soaking wet from that anyway! It was lovely to see the young Egyptian girl sitting in the front of the boat in the rain because they rarely ever see it.
We stopped for lunch at the only restaurant in the mangroves-a Thai buffet place which was extremely ordinary. We figure they have a monopoly and don’t need to try too hard. It was a beautiful building though and we ate with monkeys looking at us and climbing across the glass ceiling. All of us were a little cold though in the air conditioning due to being so wet.
Next we motored on to a bat cave where we took a look at the various bats inside. It was interesting, but I didn’t like all those smelly little things hanging over my head.
The tour was amazing, we travelled through some really beautiful limestone islands and formations and getting wet just added to the fun. The group of people, guide and boatman were really fun too which added to it as well.
Feeding the Sea Eagles
Back at the hotel, we spent an hour relaxing in the pool.
Around 7 we walked to a Chinese seafood restaurant where we had veggie spring rolls (6 pieces) and sate chicken (12 pieces) then I had 1 huge fresh tiger prawn bbqued with salt and pepper and tom yam soup and rice and Russ had a whole grouper that he chose from the tank cooked Thai style and brought still cooking over a burner to the table. He also had mixed veggies and seafood and rice. We had 2 lime juices and two red wines and were almost in shock when it cost us a whopping 164 RM-then we figured out it was about $63 and not expensive at all for the great quality of the food!!!!!
Our driver and guide spoke really good English and was very knowledgeable about the local fauna and flora, stopping the boatman often to point out various birds, animals and plants-explaining how they were used locally or whether they were poisonous or just how the grew. He was informative, but not a pain in the arse know-it-all. The tripe took us through the mangroves, out into a river then out into the open sea where we could see islands of Thailand. It began to rain in the river and we had to take shelter at a fish farm. I spilled coffee all over myself when a thunder clap sounded right over our head! When we reached the open sea, it was quite rough, so we all ended up soaking wet from that anyway! It was lovely to see the young Egyptian girl sitting in the front of the boat in the rain because they rarely ever see it.
We stopped for lunch at the only restaurant in the mangroves-a Thai buffet place which was extremely ordinary. We figure they have a monopoly and don’t need to try too hard. It was a beautiful building though and we ate with monkeys looking at us and climbing across the glass ceiling. All of us were a little cold though in the air conditioning due to being so wet.
Next we motored on to a bat cave where we took a look at the various bats inside. It was interesting, but I didn’t like all those smelly little things hanging over my head.
The tour was amazing, we travelled through some really beautiful limestone islands and formations and getting wet just added to the fun. The group of people, guide and boatman were really fun too which added to it as well.
Feeding the Sea Eagles
Back at the hotel, we spent an hour relaxing in the pool.
Around 7 we walked to a Chinese seafood restaurant where we had veggie spring rolls (6 pieces) and sate chicken (12 pieces) then I had 1 huge fresh tiger prawn bbqued with salt and pepper and tom yam soup and rice and Russ had a whole grouper that he chose from the tank cooked Thai style and brought still cooking over a burner to the table. He also had mixed veggies and seafood and rice. We had 2 lime juices and two red wines and were almost in shock when it cost us a whopping 164 RM-then we figured out it was about $63 and not expensive at all for the great quality of the food!!!!!
Langkawi
Port Of Malai
Thursday we got up and breakfasted across the road at Cactus then went on a 3 hour Island Hopping tour. Our boat’s motor wouldn’t start so we felt right at home. We travelled out through a number of islands to quite a large one and a stop for a swim at the lake of the pregnant maiden.
Lake of the Pregnant Maiden
Legend has it that if you swallow the (fresh) water, you’ll get pregnant-I didn’t even go in! Then we travelled on to another island and beach where we stopped for a swim-the water was clean, cooler than our pool and we enjoyed it a lot. The tour cost 40 RM pp which was really pretty cheap.
Out Amongst the Islands
There were 7 of us on the boat and we had a nice time with them-especially a young couple from Mumbai.
Port of Malai
We had had a pretty big breakfast, so stopped in a little warung (local café) near the beach for lunch. I had ginger chicken (with rice and salad) and Russ had Patpak (local chicken dish with spices, dried fish, beans and cauli) plus a coffee and lime juice. It was actually bigger than we were expecting and REALLY yummy and only cost us 23.50 RM (under $8) for all of it.
After a rest and a glass of wine, we walked across the road to Cactus for dinner. It was really good and although we had 2 beers and 3 glasses of wine, still cheap (83 RM). We both started with soup-Tom Yam for Russ and short soup for me. Both were excellent. Then we had chilli squid salad, crispy skinned Thai duck, stir-fried veg and 3 serves of rice. The duck although pretty expensive for here (27MR) was up there with the best I’ve ever eaten.
Thursday we got up and breakfasted across the road at Cactus then went on a 3 hour Island Hopping tour. Our boat’s motor wouldn’t start so we felt right at home. We travelled out through a number of islands to quite a large one and a stop for a swim at the lake of the pregnant maiden.
Lake of the Pregnant Maiden
Legend has it that if you swallow the (fresh) water, you’ll get pregnant-I didn’t even go in! Then we travelled on to another island and beach where we stopped for a swim-the water was clean, cooler than our pool and we enjoyed it a lot. The tour cost 40 RM pp which was really pretty cheap.
Out Amongst the Islands
There were 7 of us on the boat and we had a nice time with them-especially a young couple from Mumbai.
Port of Malai
We had had a pretty big breakfast, so stopped in a little warung (local café) near the beach for lunch. I had ginger chicken (with rice and salad) and Russ had Patpak (local chicken dish with spices, dried fish, beans and cauli) plus a coffee and lime juice. It was actually bigger than we were expecting and REALLY yummy and only cost us 23.50 RM (under $8) for all of it.
After a rest and a glass of wine, we walked across the road to Cactus for dinner. It was really good and although we had 2 beers and 3 glasses of wine, still cheap (83 RM). We both started with soup-Tom Yam for Russ and short soup for me. Both were excellent. Then we had chilli squid salad, crispy skinned Thai duck, stir-fried veg and 3 serves of rice. The duck although pretty expensive for here (27MR) was up there with the best I’ve ever eaten.
Langkawi
Wednesday we managed to get out of bed reasonably early and meet with the tour rep. We booked a mangrove/nature tour with lunch afterwards for Friday and confirmed our flights to KL.
It was raining (but not too heavily) when he left and we drove down to Breakfast Bar to give it a try. It was cheap-25RM for both of us for cooked breakfasts and coffees and a juice for me, but not a patch on Cactus across the road from our hotel.
After breakfast, we headed to Kuah and Langkawi’s biggest shopping centre “Billion” but as we got closer and the rain stopped we decided to go for a drive to the top of the highest mountain instead. On the way we stopped of at a tropical fruit farm. We’d forgotten we had no Ringit, but the manager kindly took a $50 au off us and gave us change. The tour cost 10 RM pp and was great. With only the two of us, we stopped and took photos and tasted so much fruit I nearly exploded. I especially loved the dragon fruit and jack fruit and still think star fruit is crap!
On to the top of the mountain. We drove up a narrow, steep windy road through quite thick for, and then came out as the cloud started to burn off to some amazing views of the archipelago of 99 islands. We passed lots of monkeys on the way that fled if we slowed the car (the sort of monkeys I can cope with).
At the Top
We came back down the hill and made our way to Kuah and Billion where we did some shopping-trainers for me, fishing reel and line for Russ baby stuff for Fiona and Marcus’s baby and for Kobie. This is an amazingly cheap place to shop, so it’s lots of fun.
Closer to home we stopped to pick the nights restaurant (Chinese seafood), change some money and book another small tour out around the islands in the morning. We spent an hour in the pool, came home for a glass of wine, then headed out to dinner at Chiew.
It was good-I had prawns with a sort of dried, shredded sweet and salty egg topping with curry leaves through it, Russ had spicy mussels with rice. Then we had garlic asparagus and black pepper chicken and another serve of rice. All of that and 2 beers and 2 cokes cost us 71 MR.
Malaysia-Langkawi and KL
Holiday Villa Foyer
We had a good flight to Kuala Lumpur, then on to Langkawi. We left Perth at 12.50am on the morning of Monday 5th May and arrived at the hotel around 10. We booked in, had brunch, then hired a car and went to the main town. The only hiccups were discovering in KL that we had no transfer details (fortunately the driver meeting us did), and it seemed to be that I wasn’t expected. He (the driver) only had a card up for Russell. At the hotel, only Russell had a room (actually he had two), but all that got fixed very quickly.
After booking in and brunch we hired a car and headed to the main town of Kuah for a bit of duty free shopping and a look around. On the way home, Russ stopped to let me drive and him navigate and bout 100ks later and 2 or three times past various attractions, we got home. Fortunately it’s a lovely easy place to drive and we got a good look at one corner of the island!
The View From Our Room
It’s an amazingly cheap place-our little car cost $21 a day and petrol about 70c a litre. Dinner at an Indian restaurant last night cost us $25-we had 2 beers, 2 cokes, large rice, 2 garlic roti, chickpea curry, lamb curry and chilli and garlic chicken. It was spectacularly good too.
I read previously on the internet to avoid breakfast in the hotel and go across the road to a little place called Cactus. This morning, I had a full English breakfast (bigger and better than in England), Russ had an omelette filled with spicy beef and tomato and a fruit platter, we had two coffees and a big fresh OJ and it cost us $10 all up. There are lots of Muslims working in the shops and restaurants, so nothing in the way of pork or pork products, but you can get beef and turkey bacon, turkey and chicken ham.
The pool here is huge and lovely (with a swim up bar and restaurant), we are right on a very pretty beach (with a bar and restaurant) and the island is easy to get around. There’s not much shopping apart from duty free stuff, but there are no beggars, no hawkers and no one trying to drag you into their shop which makes it all very relaxing and very different from Bali.
Part of the Gorgeous Pool
It’s the start of the rainy season now, so the rain comes in the morning and late arvo which means we are better off sightseeing and driving in the middle times. I just drove home in a tropical downpour which was not too bad though as everyone slows down and is very cautious.
We had a good flight to Kuala Lumpur, then on to Langkawi. We left Perth at 12.50am on the morning of Monday 5th May and arrived at the hotel around 10. We booked in, had brunch, then hired a car and went to the main town. The only hiccups were discovering in KL that we had no transfer details (fortunately the driver meeting us did), and it seemed to be that I wasn’t expected. He (the driver) only had a card up for Russell. At the hotel, only Russell had a room (actually he had two), but all that got fixed very quickly.
After booking in and brunch we hired a car and headed to the main town of Kuah for a bit of duty free shopping and a look around. On the way home, Russ stopped to let me drive and him navigate and bout 100ks later and 2 or three times past various attractions, we got home. Fortunately it’s a lovely easy place to drive and we got a good look at one corner of the island!
The View From Our Room
It’s an amazingly cheap place-our little car cost $21 a day and petrol about 70c a litre. Dinner at an Indian restaurant last night cost us $25-we had 2 beers, 2 cokes, large rice, 2 garlic roti, chickpea curry, lamb curry and chilli and garlic chicken. It was spectacularly good too.
I read previously on the internet to avoid breakfast in the hotel and go across the road to a little place called Cactus. This morning, I had a full English breakfast (bigger and better than in England), Russ had an omelette filled with spicy beef and tomato and a fruit platter, we had two coffees and a big fresh OJ and it cost us $10 all up. There are lots of Muslims working in the shops and restaurants, so nothing in the way of pork or pork products, but you can get beef and turkey bacon, turkey and chicken ham.
The pool here is huge and lovely (with a swim up bar and restaurant), we are right on a very pretty beach (with a bar and restaurant) and the island is easy to get around. There’s not much shopping apart from duty free stuff, but there are no beggars, no hawkers and no one trying to drag you into their shop which makes it all very relaxing and very different from Bali.
Part of the Gorgeous Pool
It’s the start of the rainy season now, so the rain comes in the morning and late arvo which means we are better off sightseeing and driving in the middle times. I just drove home in a tropical downpour which was not too bad though as everyone slows down and is very cautious.
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