Bunbury

Bunbury Beach

A three hour coach journey south of Scarborough took me down the west coast to Bunbury. No ordinary coach journey for me. I found myself on a luxury coach with tea and coffee, free wifi and movies. I missed the hawkers of SE Asia though, I could have done with some cheap pineapple. Australia seems to be a great country but sometimes it just feels a bit too sedate after the madness of SE Asia and I’ve found myself missing the chaos. Still I could probably create some chaos of my own. Although I can see why people strive to live here, for young families it’s a great way of life and the standard of living is very high. The recession hasn’t reached this far. However the country does seem to have the same social problems as ours maybe just on a lesser scale because the population is so sparse. Bunbury is situated on the south west corner and apparently is home to lots of friendly dolphins. It is also one of only 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. I don’t know what that means exactly but it sounds good in the leaflet! Surrounded on three sides by water Bunbury is a charming city, very small with a population of only 35,000, it’s very quaint and old fashioned in a lot of ways. Arriving on a Wednesday caused problems. When I asked where the nearest shop was there was a big sigh from the hostel receptionist. She said “Is it Wednesday?” I agreed it was. “Oh dear” she said “Wednesday, Wednesday, everything shuts early on a Wednesday” My fault, I was a bit silly thinking the shops would be open after 6 pm after all! It’s also very strange to see the Christmas lights and trees decorated when it’s 30 degrees outside.




I have met up again with Ben who has been staying here since we arrived in Australia. It’s nice to see him and he certainly seems to seems to have settled into the way of life and looks happy and healthy. Bunbury is a great place to cycle with endless shared pavements and I have taken advantage of the cheap hostel rates for my first bike ride in Australia. The sunsets again are amazing and the beach is even better than Scarborough. White sand, virtually deserted bar the odd dog walker and clear water. It makes for a very picturesque scene. I have spotted my first kangaroos other than in the zoo and I think they were wild. Well they certainly looked pretty angry to me! Oh and my nose is peeling and bright red, quite an attractive look if I say so myself.

Scarborough Beach

 

 After a visit to Perth zoo which was very enjoyable especially the gibbons it was time to say goodbye to Roberta and to Perth. It’s been an interesting city if somewhat bland and well ordered but well worth seeing. Roberta is on her way to Melbourne and the comparative luxury of hotels whilst I am still in hostel land and have headed up the coast to Scarborough Beach. Luckily my choice of hostel for my first night alone in almost 8 months has proved very successful. Located right on the Indian ocean the hostel is clean, cheap with friendly staff and full of guests who are more interested in surfing than fighting, unlike the previous place. The beach itself is magnificent. I arrived on a windy day and the swells of the surf were great to see. I watched in awe at the skills of the kite and wind surfers, just as they watched in awe as they saw me running later! I think it was awe! Sunset was particularly spectacular. I choose Scarborough Beach as I have fond memories of living at our Scarborough and it’s uncanny how alike the two places are. Both are situated on a sea/ocean, they have exactly the same street names, both have a Peasholm Park and both have constant sunshine, oh no that’s just this Scarborough! As a bonus it is also a lot cheaper here than Perth and I have found some nice chilled white wine at last. On the downside every odd ball, there’s no PC way of saying that, seems to realise I’m in town and insists on talking to me. My avoidance skills are getting better and better though.

View from hostel

My running track

You don't have to catch fish here, they just jump out at you!

Australia!



 So to Australia and as the airport taxi driver pointed out, no more “massage, transport, taxi” to worry us we were on our way back to the western world. Sharing a flight with dozens of dreadlocked Australian women wearing Bintang vests we flew over the Kimberley and down the western coast to Perth. When I worked at the airport we used to call this sort of flight RAF, not in recognition of our splendid air force, more as in rough as f….  Sorry kids.  The views from the aircraft window were of a vast red desert stretching as far as you could see with seemingly no sign of life. Immigration proved to be no problem, which was a relief for Ben who had somehow assumed that they would pick on an American boy. No-one could pick on him as much as we’ve done for the past 7 months. With Ben safely on his bus myself and Roberta arrived at our hostel in central Perth. Hence incurring the first culture shock. The hostel also provides accommodation for long term backpacker workers and as such resembles a student digs or even a youth offending institute but even messier. The list of rules handed to us included certain fines. So if I ever feel the need to urinate in the room it will cost me $50 or if I reach the dizzy heights of vomiting $70. I have yet to enquire if they do special two for one offers! Welcome to Australia! There was also a fight on our second night which involved one lad knocking out another. Nice!

About time I did some exercise

Both not worth drinking especially at $4 a bottle!

Hostel!  Not my mess.

Watching the Ashes in the sunshine

My running route

Feeling a bit negative I felt even worse when I realised how expensive everything is. Probably not in real terms but it certainly seems it after Asia. However a long walk around what seems a very nice city including a great waterfront made things seem better. Plus of course the sun is shining and the sky is blue, very blue. I have had my first run on Australian soil taking in no less then 3 different parks. I haven't suddenly become a great runner it’s just the parks are close to each other.

A visit along the coast to Fremantle, famous for the America cup, provided us with views of houses reportedly worth $87 million, so I just need to find the owners and I'm sorted.  The first glimpse of the Indian Ocean looks very impressive and having decided to spend a week very soon at the beach in Scarborough, not our Scarborough!, I look forward to seeing lots more of it.  I'll put some pics up soon when I buy a new camera and I have to say this quietly so my kids don't hear, I'm going to the zoo on Tuesday!

Ubud and beyond

Gili Air

Ubud turned out to be a great place to spend a few nights. With our bargaining skills honed by months on the road we managed to secure a room in a great hotel with swimming pool and breakfast for less than £6 a night which made us all very happy. It’s a great town with seemingly a temple on every corner, art galleries galore and lots to see and do and certainly plenty of expensive boutiques if you’ve got money in your purse. If you can ignore the constant cries of “transport, taxi, massage” that fill the air it really is a very nice place. The rest of the guys did the culture trip which meant that I didn’t have to, phew!! so I hired a bike to visit the rice terraces and such like. More my sort of thing. Although I did go to the monkey forest which housed 300+ macaques in a beautiful setting. Or it would have been beautiful if I wasn’t so scared of of them! One or two are okay but 300 was a bit much for me. We also found a Mexican restaurant with the best fajitas ever so happy days for all and Ben kept us laughing with his tales of his emergency use of the pages of his rough guide to Australia book and his saving of the letter P for Perth.

They might look cute but they're very very scary honestly!!

Not the worse place we've ever stayed.

We reluctantly left Ubud and travelled on a ferry across to Lombok. A scenic ride led us past deserted white sand islands, schools of dolphins and turtles. However it also led us to believe that Lombok would be similar. Unfortunately not. We arrived in the main resort of Singiggi somewhat surprised. The postcards show sweeping bays of clean white sand, in reality it is volcanic ash mainly covered in rubbish. Maybe because we have seen so many great sights on this trip we have been spoiled but certainly I wasn’t impressed. It could be that we are on the wrong part of the island, who knows. It could also be the fact that we have been travelling so long we are getting weary and things don’t appear fresh anymore. I do miss my family, my dog and especially my bambino, so maybe it’s just that, but at least least it’s warm here!




Catching a ferry to one of the Gili islands, Gili Air, the next day cheered me up. Situated just off the coast of Lombok these really are the islands that postcards are made of. White sand, deserted beaches, lots of snorkeling and swimming along with a great bungalow to sleep in all for less than £5 per night! It also had the most chilled out manager ever maybe due to his chain smoking of dubious substances. I opted to sleep outside on the balcony which proved a great choice enabling me to watch a fantastic sunrise every day. Plus it bought out the gypsy in me. Don’t think I’ll try it at home though. A run around the perimeter of the island takes about 40 minutes and again I’m privileged to be able to run amongst fantastic scenery. Running with the sun setting over the Indian ocean and the sound of the mosque calling for prayer is amazing.  Myself Heather and Roberta spent a day snorkeling and had a great time, spotting giant turtles, a huge variety of fish and the most amazing coral.  The Gili islands are famous for diving and snorkeling and rightly so.  We also saw fantastic sunsets, definitely a place I would return too.  It was the perfect end, or nearly end, to Asia for us.  After 5 relaxing days we caught a boat, bus, ferry, bus in the Indonesian tradition of hurry up and wait and are now in Kuta sorting our bags out for the flight to Australia.  Kuta is a major holiday resort for Australians and as such full of tacky bars and very similar to Benidorm, maybe without the pensioners!  Still a couple of nights are ok.  Next stop Perth.  Thanks Roberta for the photos.

Volcanos!!

Ok so now I'm the big 50 I'm meant to appreciate culture!!

Should be mighty mariners!!  No wonder I had trouble sleeping!

We tried Simons cupboard game to no avail!  Never mind Simon where ever you are!

Arriving at the train station in Yogyakarta was a bit surreal. A layer of ash covered everything as evidence of the still erupting Mt Merapi. Although it’s usually a busy tourist destination most of the tourists had been evacuated so it was just us hardy backpackers and a few random Germans, not that there‘s anything wrong with random Germans of course! Respect for race and diverity and all that! Unfortunately due to the volcano many of the tourist attractions were closed as there were within the 20k safety zone but we did manage a bit of culture, visiting the Sultans palace which was slightly underwhelming and also a batik factory, where I swore that I wasn’t going to buy anything and came out with a present for Louise. They know I’m an easy touch. The next day due to it being my birthday and to celebrate somehow reaching such a great age, I managed to persuade Roberta and Heather that cycling 40k in the heat and with crazy traffic was a great idea. We cycled merrily along to the Prambanan, a 6^th/7^th century Hindu temple. Along the way motorists stopped their cars to take videos of us no doubt impressed by our turn of speed! The temple was actually very impressive and extremely well restored. The gardens were also bizarrely similar to Chatsworth which made me long for the English countryside somewhat. Yogyakarta was overall a very pleasant city with a good feel to it and hopefully it will recover soon and the tourists return.  There was just one bad note for me, inadvertantly I found myself sleeping on a Man Utd mattress, not amused, the mighty Mariners would have been better!

We caught a free train to Solo the next day. Not used to getting something for nothing it took a lot to persuade us that it was really free and even then we weren’t really convinced. Expecting to be be thrown off at any time. However we arrived safely for a quick overnight stop in a quaint hotel. Confined to base due to a massive tropical storm dinner proved to be most amusing. First Heather stated “ I’ve never had a boiled egg before, I’m actually a bit scared!”, then I proceeded to eat a whole green chilli thinking it was asparagus and nearly passed out and lastly Ben tried to eat an ice cube, got brain freeze and had to run around the hotel for ten minutes refusing to spit it into a napkin “ because I need that for my toilet roll”. Roberta just rolled her eyes. We’re getting more sophisticated by the day! It’s only a matter of time before hotels refuse to take us.




So an overnight bus driven by a pair of maniac drivers has bought us to Lovina on the north coast of Bali. Myself, Ben and Roberta got up at the crack of dawn to watch the dolphins swimming and go snorkeling.  Very worthwhile as we saw dozens of dolphins including one which did a nifty spin for us and then did it again to make sure we had seen. So I need to add dolphins to my list of creatures to take home!  Lovina is a quiet resort with the only sound the calls of the beach traders “ Lesley, Lesley buy this buy that.  I did make the mistake of telling them my name and they have passed it round to the extent where I was swimming 500 meters out and they called me by name to buy bracelets! I thought I’d managed to avoid them by clever use of my bike only to have one of them offer me a better bike to hire. I going to try and run past them this evening, that’ll frighten them! I’ve spent a bit of time a the natural hot springs, very relaxing and riding around the countryside. Also quite relaxing in it’s own way once you get used to the traffic rules, i.e. there are no traffic rules! Tomorrow will see us travel to Ubud, a inland hill resort for hopefully lot’s of trekking.

Indonesia

   A great night out in KK where far too much gin was consumed we said our farewells to Barry and Pauline and headed off to KL. Myself, Roberta and Ben to catch a flight to Jakarta and Kirsten and Simon heading off to Africa. There was just time to have a early morning run around the now renamed Petronas Parry towers before our flight. There still looked fantastic to me. Malaysia and Borneo in particular have been excellent. Superb scenery and wildlife along with the great city of Kuala Lumpur. Yet another place I would happily revisit.

   So we are now solo travellers or solo in so much as there will be four of us when Heather joins us in Jakarta.  We arrived in Jarkarta mid afternoon to face one of the most difficult border crossings and immigration points we have seen in SE Asia.  Travelling to the hostel showed us the sights of Jakarta which appear to be endless traffic jams, street stalls, shopping malls and endless high rise buildings.  Oh not to forget a nice layer of smog. It’s dusty, noisy, big, brash and scruffy. Much as expected really. It is a massive sprawling city. The portly taxi driver asked us for a “poverty tip” which we politely refused, he didn’t look like he couldn’t afford to eat! The hostel, once we got over the initial shock of the fact that it was actually an apartment with 8 beds in the spare room, was great. With access to a huge swimming pool and a gym I was more than happy to spend a few days. We did the required cultural visit to the Monas, the statue of independence and the mosque, which is apparently the largest in SE Asia. At the mosque the “friendly” guide invited us to make a contribution to the mosque which we did and then asked “what about a tip for me?” All in the name of religion of course! Another refusal to hand over our cash and we were out of there. It was good to meet up with Heather again and swop tales from the last few weeks and make our future plans.

    A good train journey through paddy terraces and amongst mountains bought us to Bandung. There are no bridges at train stations in Indonesia so the done thing is actually to walk through a stationary train and come out the other side all the time hoping it doesn't start to move.  A good way to keep the heart rate up!   Enroute to our hotel we came across a naked man crouched in the street.  I’m not sure if this is the norm in Bandung or not never having been there before but I'm guessing not!  However he was as Heather rightly pointed out a definite trip hazard as he was blocking the pavement and we had to walk carefully around him.  Anyway the hotel was great unfortunately Bandung not so.    But like most places we’ve been always worth a visit just to experience different ways of life. We’re currently on a train heading for Yogyarkarta.  As I'm writing this the sky is dark and everything is covered in volcanic ash from Mt Merapi.  We'll see what it's like when we arrive.

Uncle Tans Borneo

Black kingfisher ( I think)

One of those scary bat things!

After Brunei we headed back into Borneo for Kota Kinbalu on the coast.  A fairly large resort it was a nice place to spend some time in a great hostel and catch up on some internet surfing.  A bit of a street fair added to the laid back atmosphere although some of the singing made me sound good and I don't!  A night out along the waterfront led to Kirsten and Roberta trying to break the world record in marching back to the hostel.  This was twarted however by their clear lack of training and preparation and both hit the wall after 800 meters muttering something about too much gin!  Most amusing to watch.

An early flight saw us arrive in Sepilok.  This is the home of another Orang Utan sanctuary which whilst not as good as the first one we visited was still very worthwhile.  We also stayed at a great jungle resort with a swimming pool which most of us made use of.  The main reason for visiting Sepilok for us was to visit Uncle Tans wildlife adventure park.  This does exactly what it says on the tin.  A initial boat ride along  the river Kinabatangen to the park gave us sighting of numerous macaque monkeys, hornbills,egrets and probiscus monkeys.  With very basic accomodation the park is devoted primarily to the objective of spotting as much wildlife as possible.  This is achieved with a program of boat rides and trekking both day and night and delivers perfectly.  It's quite hard to recall everything we saw as there was so much, but for me the highlight was the large crocodile just slipping into the water as we passed it.  The gibbons playing amongst the trees were also great to see.  I missed out on seeing the orang utan in the wild due to an appointment with my pillow but was assured by the others that it was fantastic.  The whole park is staffed by young boys/men who put every effort into making sure you have a great time.  The only thing unfortunately they cannot control are the mossies which are everywhere.  Still a brilliant time was had by all even Ben who was extremely worried beforehand that he would die from sweating!  Turns out he didn't.

So we're currently back in KK for our last night together before returning to KL and each going our separate ways.  Well nearly separate, myself, Roberta, Heather and Ben are heading for Indonesia. Kirsten and Simon have got Africa to look forward to and Barry and Pauline are heading home to NZ. Borneo has been brilliant, I feel very lucky to have been here and seen all the things I have.  One thing that will always stick is my mind is Kirstens uncanny knack of negotiating a discount amongst male taxi drivers.  This involved a lot of smiling, dare I say flirting and a bit of chat "Oh yes, this is my job".  This worked briliantly and Kirsten has now apparently become a pin up girl amongst Borneos finest!

It's been a fantastic 6+ months for me with the Odyssey Overland group. I've had the time of my life and cannot speak highly enough of Pete and Kirsten for all the effort they put into the trip.  Every problem and I'm sure there have been a lot that we travellers were not aware of was dealt in a extremely professional way and made our lives easy. Even problems like Simon announcing to all and sundry that he had had his bag stolen in KK only to remember hours later after waking the poor nightwatchman that he had left it in KL.  I don't want to lavish the praise too highly in case anyone reads this and they get so booked up I cannot get on future trips!  Suffice to say I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the company to everyone I know. A fantastic group of fellow travellers also made life very enjoyable.  It's very hard to pick out highlights as there have been so many so I'll just say I feel privileged to have seen and done the things I have in the last 6 months and the memories will last forever.  We've had some great laughs.

So our time with Odyssey is nearly over and  after a few drinks together tonight it's time to look forward to our future travels.  I've took over the role of tour leader for one night only and booked us into a hostel in Jakarta, someone elses turn next.

This time I've sussed it.  They'll never see me in this small clear carrier bag!!

See Ben we're invisible!

Although our time together is nearly up Simon managed to get a couple of sneaky games of cupboard hiding in.  He still hasn't got the hang off it though.  Keep practising Simon!

Still Borneo plus Brunei

Strictly lime juice!

Diesel station

I'm not doing this again!

Mosque rising above the river dwellings

After a brief overnight stop in Miri, we travelled across the border to the capital city of Brunei Darussalam, Bander Seri Bergawan (BSB).  We stayed at a great hotel in the centre of the city with it's own gym and pool.  I had both to myself which can't be bad which meant that I could run indoors instead of offending the local population by venturing outdoors in shorts.  Brunei is a small sultanate split into two parts by Malaysian Borneo.  A strictly Islamic country, alcohol is prohibited and any nightclubs and bars closed down in the 1990s.  This pleased Simon and Ben, those well known party animals, no end.  Not!!  The city itself is a fascinating if somewhat strange place.  The city centre consists primarily of government buildings, with limited housing and as such the streets are devoid of people.  At times we were the only people walking on the street.  The city is one of great contrasts.  Most of the population live on the river in stilted houses which look a world apart from the grand government buildings and the magnificent mosque.  There are schools, police stations, fire and rescue stations and even diesel pumps all on stilts on the river.  It all works well and has a great community feel.  Apparently the Sultan offered the river dwellers new more modern properties but the residents declined. The city has a nice chilled atmosphere maybe due to the lack of alcohol which makes the city a very calm place.  Perhaps we could learn from this. Don't think it'll work in the UK though!

As I needed a bit of culture I joined in the visit to the mosque, a huge modern building which dominates the city.  Visitors are strictly controlled and the women have to wear black robes and headscarves so as not to offend.  Myself, Pauline and Roberta got robed up while the fellas laughed.  We ended up looking like Jedi warriors.  The guide had a great sense of humour and found all this most amusing.  The inside of the mosque bizarrely had an escalator installed which seemed strange but maybe a sign of the times.  That's enough culture for me for now though.!  Unfortunately I didn't get to meet the Sultan so no cash for me!  Never mind.

To compensate for the lack of beer Simon had another attempt at a slightly different version of his cupboard game.  But as per the photos it appears he didn't really think it through.  Apparently it's a very popular game in the wilds of Suffolk but has yet to catch on in the rest of the UK.  Personally I think he's been travelling too long!
 

They can't see me!!

Oh maybe they can!!

Borneo

A long journey saw us arrive at Bintulu a stop off point for a day visit to Similajua national park. We had a great day at the park, the highlight being a long jungle walk ably led by Kirsten to a deserted beach. At times Kirsten walked so fast I could hardly keep up, never before have I a witnessed such a level of fitness and she never appeared fatigued in any way. I need to ask her for her fitness program! The beach was beautiful and the run back ( that was just me) even better. The only thing that marred the day was the mysterious police incident tape in the jungle which made me imagine buried bodies and I’m sure I heard them calling to me, probably only the monkeys though!

Think that's Barry at the end!!



Don't know how I cope with the stress!!



All I can say is YES!!!

WOW!!

The next national park on our list was Niah.  A very well maintained park we had a great cabin for the seven of us, which made us feel at home.  This park is all about the prehistoric caves which house thousands of swiftlets and bats.  The nests which are made from the saliva of the swiftlets fetch a high price in the Chinese community and so are very sought after.  Young men risk their lives to reach the nests and harvest them, perched precariously on thin wooden poles.  Fatalities are apparently common.  We all had a visit to the caves and found them fascinating.  Not too much for me though due to not liking bats, birds or the dark!! Or wooden poles!! Or fatalities!!
  




 

This is how they wear it in Borneo

Where's wally? I mean Simon!

The next day a fairly relaxed day was had chilling around the cabin.  Obviously apart from Barry and Pauline, the kiwi wonders, who had their usual 40k stroll before breakfast.  Me, I went for what I thought would be an easy run/walk.  I realised I should have read the imformation  leaflet a bit closer when I lost my shoes twice in the jungle swamp, came across bridges that consisted of a single plank of wood suspended 20 meters high and climbed a steep slippery moss covered mountain in my thin soled running shoes.  Didn’t have to climb all the way down though not when you can slide on your backside!  To add insult to injury the jungle is reached by a ferry boat across the river and once the ferry man saw the state of my muddy legs he seemed reluctant to let me on.  A bit of a smile on my part and a flash of my blue eyes worked and I didn’t have to swim with the crocodiles.  Getting back to the cabin the others had had a good day in particular SImon who had invented a bizarre hide and seek game in a cupboard.  After two hours and no-one finding him or indeed even looking for him, he came out.  Takes all sorts!