Author: odohertyelaine

Gisborne is a little off the beaten track for visitors like myself so it’s great to be with some locals and get to see this part of the country. We reach Whispering Sands, which is right on the beach at Gisborne, in the afternoon. We take a walk along the beach boardwalk to the harbour which also involves walking along the old railway tracks. There were kids jumping from the walkway into the water below one cute little mauri boy who was terrified but got talked into it… very cute.

This is also the spot where Captain Cook found and put New Zealand on the map and there’s a statue to mark it:

We hit the wharf bar and restaurant for some happy hour drinks and an early dinner. I have the ” fish and chops” although I haven’t really heard anyone pronounce it like that! Back at our beachfront motel we watch the sunset with a nice glass of wine.

It’s a beautiful morning next day so I put my runners on and head up the beach for a 5km run. The beach goes on for ages with beautiful cliffs in front so it’s a very pretty run. Am glad to be finished before 9am as it’s already really hot.

Next on this agenda is snorkeling. We get our gear together and go to Te Tapuwae o Rongokako marine reserve. It’s shallow water but lots of reef to see and we are only in two minutes when we see a little octopus – it’s so cute. We see lots of little fish and a handful of bigger ones and it’s great fun just swimming around.

When we come out of the water a seal has made its way onto the beach to say hello!

Fearing the weather might change, although it stays hot and sunny all day, we head back to our place for lunch and a swim (I use that word lightly!) in our beach. The water is gorgeous and I float in a few waves (still terrified of those big ones!!) with my noodle and I’m happy out.

After the dip it’s time for a walk along the beach and it’s so nice I walk for ages and forget to turn back… it must be over an hour later when I return, a little sunburnt (not much though) after being in the salty water. We chill for the rest of the afternoon until it’s time for dinner. For dinner we visit Wynns nephew and his adorable family. He’s quite the cook and the giant fish starter is amazing. We have salmon tails, muscles and abalone which is locally called paua and was caught locally by our host – amazing! I also had kumara which is the local sweet potato.

Next day after watching the sun rise [Gisborne claims to be the the first city on earth to see the sun rise] we get on the road “home” to Napier.

Lots of nice scenery to see again and it’s hot and sunny. At a little tea stop on the way I find some locally produced beauty products which feel and smell gorgeous – a honey facial wash and a Rotorua mud moisturizer – looking forward to using these. Our drive takes us through another gorge and around the devils elbow. The scenery is stunning :

With lots of sheep as you’d imagine – you can’t really see them here but they’re dotted on the hills

and we pass through the Mohaka Viaduct :

Once we get through the gorge and back onto flat land, Hawke’s Bay appears quite suddenly with a beautiful coastline in front of us:

I’m very excited to arrive at Karina and Wynns home which is a cool mission style house. I get the tour and get to chill out and do some washing!! More on Napier next…..

I arrive at 2am after a ten hour flight from Kuala Lumpur and it’s straight to bed so I’ll have some energy for my first Southern Hemisphere Park run in the morning. When I was planning this trip back in November I specifically organized it around park runs – crazy as that may sound, it will make sure I at least keep up 5k every week and I think it’ll make it easier to get out more during the week too. Park runs are all over NZ and Australia so this is my first of hopefully eleven on this trip. I have great intentions so hopefully will get them all in.

After very little sleep I’m up at 7am and ready to take on the first parkrun. I uber to Western Springs Park which is less than ten minutes on the motorway from my hotel and it’s right by the zoo. It’s a nice course with three laps around a lake. It’s much hotter than the weather looks so I could do with a bit of rain but it holds off for the actual run. Afterward while looking for WiFi to call an Uber a guy connects me to his hotspot and actually walks me to the other end of the park and waits with me til the uber arrives – what a nice intro to the people of NZ.

When I get back to the hotel and shower I decide to have a little snooze as I’m gonna need it to last the day ahead…. cut to three hours later and I jump out of bed to get organized… I’ve a wedding to go to!

My friend Karina who has lived in NZ for about fifteen years is tying the knot today and I’m thrilled to be here for the occasion. The weather has not cooperated for an outdoor ceremony but it doesn’t impact the fun of the day as we drink champagne and get ready for the nuptials. The view from the hotel which backs onto the Auckland Viaduct Harbour is pretty impressive:

It’s a lovely ceremony with a few close friends and family and I complete my ring bearer duties with poise and grace (if I do say so myself lol!!). Congratulations Wynn and Karina!

After the ceremony we go downstairs to Giraffe restaurant which is run by NZ Master Chef judge Simon Gault. The food is amazing and the man himself is there and gives us a wave from the open kitchen area. It really is a feast of food especially the suckling pig and the monster fish:

After an amazing meal we hit LuLu’s bar for some more drinks and dancing. There’s a brilliant band doing jazzy style covers with a three-piece brass section and they really get the crowd going. Great end to a great day.

Sunday morning and there’s not much Auckland sightseeing to be done as the weather is not great. I did manage to get to see the sky tower in between clouds mind you…

It lashes rain while we have breakfast so we set off from a very wet Auckland to Waitomo.

This is Day 1 of the honeymoon and Wynn is doing the driving. It’s a tough one as it’s bucketing down but the rain eases and the driving conditions improve somewhat as we get closer to Waitomo. There’s still some lovely scenery to see along the way. We reach Waitomo in the afternoon and head for our cave tour.

It’s fascinating! The size of the caves themselves are impressive and we see stalagmites (the ones that grow up) and stalactites (the ones that grow down) but the big draw are the glow worms:

Our guide is called James Brown, a young Mauri lad with a very unique peculiar way of talking…. lots of pauses in odd places – it was very hard to know if he was being funny or just a bit special!

After the glow worm cave we visit the Discovery Centre and museum to find out what these little glow worms are all about. There’s a very informative video and it seems these tiny worms known as arachnocampa luminosa are about the size of a mosquito and are actually the lava of a gnat. They glow when they are hungry and they capture prey by hanging threads of silk from their nests, which capture flies and other insects, which they then feed on. Quite amazing for such a small creature.

Time for some dinner at a local eatery and back to our Caves motel for a reasonably early night, as let’s face it, we are all dealing with some level of hangover from yesterday!

Monday morning we set off for Lake Taupo and the weather has brightened up considerably. The lake is very picturesque and we have a lovely wander around.

There’s a scenic lookout point before we continue on to Huka falls:

Huka falls is fabulous and the weather is gorgeous for us to explore..

Onwards on our journey we pass huge pipes that really stick out on the beautiful green hills. They are piping water to be used for geothermal heating and energy.. amazing.

As soon we arrive at Rotorua you can smell the sulphur in the air. It really is like boiled eggs. We check into our digs.. the very fancy Fern Motel (pity about the smell!!!) and head for Te Puia to see the mud fields and hot geysers. The main geyser has constant activity and then a big spurt a couple of times an hour…

It’s very cool walking around the park as the boiling springs and bubbling mud are everywhere:

You can’t visit Rotorua without a dip in the hot springs so we head to the Polynesian spa for some water therapy. This place is amazing. There are five hot pools of varying heat and they are really relaxing to float around in. We decide to treat ourselves to massages and take the last three available appointments. None of us quite know what we’re booked for but as it turns out Karina has a water therapy massage, Wynn a Swedish massage and I get a mud wrap massage… all were amazing and we are totally chilled when we come out.

Tuesday morning before getting on the road to Gisborne we have breakfast in downtown Rotorua and visit a park called Kuirau which has thermal springs and mud pools all around…

Carrying on our road trip, we stop off on the peninsula of Ohope where at the general store, which is more or less at the tip of the peninsula, you can see the beach on one side and the Harbour on the other. We go for a walk along the beach where there are lots of tree branches washed up and pick some tiny purple shells

Onwards to Opotiki through some farm country and more lush greenery and through the 60km or so of the Waioeka gorge. Before setting off today we read about warnings on the road and we see there are workers removing fallen trees and bush. You have to take it easy on these roads after bad weather as there is often fallen debris:

The gorge is beautiful to drive through…

Next stop the beach at Gisborne…..

• There are no bars at the airport in fact there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to get a drink at all. At this stage I’ve been in three airports – Kuala Lumpar, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan and not a drink to be had.
• Most toilets have signs on the door of the stall to tell you if it’s a seat or a squat.
• Sabah has a population of approximately 3.5 million, most of it is Rainforest and jungle.
• Borneo is home to the smallest elephant, the smallest bear and the biggest tropical tree.
• Malaysia is officially an Islamic country.
• Japan controlled Malaysia (or at least this part of it) during WWII which wasn’t a good time for the locals, then the British took over. They achieved independence in 1963.
• The school day in Sabah is either a morning session which starts around 7am and finishes around 1pm or the afternoon session which starts around 12 and finishes at 6pm. Education is free since just recently and all kids must go to school.
• There’s an O’Briens Irish sandwich bar in Kota Kinabalu airport (fairly small airport) and I saw another in KL.
• UK plugs work here
• There are cycle lanes painted in blue all over the city (KL) but I only saw one person cycling. Mostly motor bikes were using them.
• They’re big into their local fruits and there’s all sorts I’ve never seen before. For the first time I had yellow water melon – just like the regular red water melon but more flavor
• Durian is a popular fruit over here and you see it in the open air stalls along the road. Apparently it’s banned in lots of places including on trains and buses because it’s so smelly!

It’s just under a three hour flight from KK to KL, as the locals call it and another hour drive to the city.. plenty of time for blogging. KL looks like a big city and I’ve only got one full day tomorrow and what’s left of tonight (I’m in the car as I type this and it’ll be at least 8pm before I get there) so I’ll have to make the most of it. There’s clearly a lot of apartment living here as I can see towering block after block all the way from the airport into the city.

I see the Petronas towers from the motorway and then a huge new building that looks like the tallest building I’ve ever seen. The driver tells me it’s 106 floors and I find out it’s the 106 Exchange soon to be the biggest in Malaysia – it’s monstrous and seems to dwarf everything else.

It’s late by the time I leave the hotel for a look around but the place is buzzing. There are shops everywhere and I even manage to get a quick mani/pedi that’s not finished til 10pm. There are a lot of Arabic restaurants that don’t sell alcohol so I find somewhere a little more ‘east meets west’ and have a cocktail and some food. I try the nasi ledang which has dried anchovies with satay, rice and pickled veggies… it’s ok, wouldn’t be my favorite! As I head back to the hotel the place is still buzzing with street performers and crowds of people.

Next morning:

I navigate the monorail and head toward the Menara KL tower. The station I’m heading for is called Bukit Nanas (which means big pineapple). There’s a free shuttle from the bottom of the hill which most people seem to opt for as it’s a steep hill and it’s a sunny 30 degrees but it’s nice to walk up and see the greenery on the way up.

There are some great views from the open observation deck. There are also a couple of sky decks where you can walk out in your bare feet and look down through the glass – it is quite a ways up.

There’s a great view of the Petronas towers:

While building the KL tower, the authorities ensured that they kept some of the local jungle. They have now created an eco park with a canopy walk which is a lovely way to get back down the hill.

It’s odd to be among so many sky scrapers while walking through tree tops. It’s like a mini green jungle among the concrete jungle:

As I walk through the streets I notice how everyone is in their work outfits going between offices and I’m thinking how happy I am to be in elephant pants wandering around, exploring a new city without a care in the world. Not sure I could be any happier with no stresses of work… I am literally smiling to myself and generally appreciating this new life of mine and what do I walk past…. the Juniper office… ahhh the memories… of course I wouldn’t know anyone in this office so on I go…

Next it’s time to visit the Petronas twin towers. They are massive:

A ticket to get into the tower for a tour is about €17. You get taken to the skybridge first which is 41 floors up. Then up to the observation deck, indoor this time, on the 86th floor. It is really high. This is the view of the other tower:

Looking down from skybridge between the two towers:

These are the tallest twin towers in the world. It’s a cool visit and I’m very impressed. It’s amazing being so high up and looking around from that height.

Next I go to Merdeka square. I’m very proud of navigating the city but everyone is very happy to help out and ask if you need help or directions. There’s a pretty river walkway beside the mosque which I take

Independence square has a high flag flying and all around here is definitely the older part of town.

From there I head back to the hotel with the intention of a swim in the outdoor pool but it starts raining just as I arrive back. Within an hour it’s bucketing down with a few thunder and lightning showers. So instead I opt for an hour FaceTiming my BFF at home, followed by room service and a glass of wine. Tomorrow it’s on to New Zealand.

Bye bye Malaysia!

The next day is my first rest day since I took off on Jan 19th. It’s Feb 5th and I’m looking forward to having nothing to do but lounge around the pool. I hit the gym, have a leisurely breakfast, catch up on a bit of FaceTime and eventually leave the room! By the time I hit the pool there’s a ferocious wind. I manage to enjoy a few hours reading my book by the pool, have a quick dip, relax at the small beach and then have a glass of wine and food watching a non existent sun set!

The rain is coming down and the wind is whipping up so I stay put and have an early night. I should check out downtown but I’m glad of the excuse not to have to go.

It rains all through the night and there’s even a bit of thunder and lightening. Still raining and misty the next morning, it’s probably the worst weather I could have for my tour today but we set off anyway. First stop is the view point of Mount Kinabalu…. eh, not today

We’re supposed to go to Mount Kinabalu next for a hike but with the weather being so bad we head for Poring Hot Springs. This is a UNESCO world heritage area with lush green trees, waterfalls and baths. We start with the canopy walk which is full on rope suspension bridge and is fairly hairy scary when you first step on and it starts to shake…

There were six in all, the second last being the longest and wobbliest but sure it’s no bother to this intrepid traveller!!!! 🤣

After descending the pathway from the canopies I head to the waterfall. I can only get as far as the smaller of two as the main one is closed off because of the bad weather.

Hot and sweaty from the climbing it’s time for a soak in the hot spring baths…. well kinda. Sounds like it should be lovely but this is no Calistoga! There are individual baths all empty with a hot and cold tap that you control. The water is piped from the spring, allegedly, but it takes so long to fill the bath and there’s so many dead bugs and mosquitoes flying around it’s not exactly relaxing. I’m in my swimsuit expecting a leisurely float around and the locals (mostly Muslim women) are covered from head to toe just dipping their feet!! I have a dunk in the cold rock pool then a quick soak of my feet in the hot bath and I’m done…. not really convinced it was worth the hassle of the clothes change and drying situation in very meager changing rooms (with wet floors). Can’t say I enjoyed that much.

The weather is definitely brighter here so we’re hopeful the mountain may be a little clearer….. eh no – at the entrance to the national park I give up on the notion of seeing the mountain:

So much for getting a hike in, I can’t even see the mountain. The best we can do is have a walk around the botanical gardens in our raincoats in the rain. The guide points out the tiniest orchid:

And a slipper orchid:

It’s nice but honestly every time the lovely lady who is my guide stops and asks if I know what this leaf is and that plant is and that tree is I want to shout “NO, I told you I don’t know my plants or trees or birds or fruits for that matter”… need I say more. Time to just call it a day and head back to the hotel and hope the mist will clear and the rain stop for tomorrow.

At one point on the drive we see a police escort, with full on sirens blazing, go past us escorting at least ten coaches. They’ve darkened windows so we cannot see inside but they look like brightly colored tour buses. The guide tells me that the buses are full of illegal immigrants getting deported. She said it happens once a month and there is often this many!

When I get back I have a lovely shower and walk along the waters edge to Chi Spa at the resort. It is amazing. The location is right at the edge of the property at the sea and the treatment rooms are incredible. You can hear the ocean while having your treatment. I have a “Borneo Massage” and it is fabulous. It’s supposed to be 1 hr 15 minutes but ends up being an hour and a half and it’s one of the best massages I’ve ever had. It also involves getting beaten with a pumice (a bit like that one I had in Bhutan) but I always feel great after a good masseuse battering and I love it.

I float back to my room and decide to order room service – nasi goreng with a glass of white wine and an episode of Bloodline (my new box set that I’m watching) – heaven!

The next morning it’s still drizzling rain so no morning by the pool for me. I hit the gym (so proud of myself!!) and do a yoga class which is held at the spa. The studio is open on all sides and we are facing the sea doing our stretches and poses – it’s a lovely relaxing hour with the teacher and just two other ladies. A full on Asian breakfast and another hour reading my book until it’s time to pack and head to Kuala Lumpur. [side note: The book I’m reading is called Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai and it’s set in Sri Lanka during the colonial period. I spotted it in a bookshop in Colombo and it’s a great read having just been there]

I say goodbye to Sabah hoping I’ll return one day. I could easily have spent more time at the Sepilok resort and next time I would go to the river to see the probiscus monkeys and would definitely try see the Pygmy elephant and there’s an island where you see turtles. I just didn’t have enough time and I’ll definitely need to return.

The island of Borneo is made up of three different countries – Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The Malaysia part where I’m spending time has two states Sabah and Seriwak. I’m in Sabah. So after that little geography lesson (all new to me until today!) I’ll get on with telling you what I’m up to….

After a long day of airports I finally reach Kota Kinabalu and the Shangri La resort. It’s a huge 5 star resort which I’m looking forward to exploring in the morning. After enjoying breakfast at the biggest buffet I’ve ever seen, I take a walk around the resort and suss out the pools and beach.. it’s very fancy!

No time to dawdle around though it’s off to the airport again for a 55 minute flight to Sandakan which is where the orangutans are. The flight is easy and I’m picked up by a local nature enthusiast called Kenneth. We head straight to the Rainforest Discovery Centre. There’s lots of information about the island and its flora and fauna at the Centre and I’m the only person there so it’s very relaxing and mellow. Kenneth tells me lots about the state of Sabah and shows me photos of what I might see, then we take a walk around the gardens and see the various plants and trees. Climbing up to the trees we do a canopy walk and see what’s around up there. Kenneth is big into his birds and has brought a telescope with him so we check out what’s flying around.

After our Rainforest Discovery visit I get dropped off at the Sepilok Nature resort where I’m staying overnight. It looks amazing but I don’t have much time to explore if I’m going to make the night walk at the orangutan rehabilitation center next door. So I drop my bags, do a quick bug re-spray and head off to meet the ranger who’ll walk us around the reserve. Just as we are starting our walk I see my first orangutan climbing on the office building. Beddy, the ranger, tells us that this is an orangutan who was released back into the wild some time ago but still likes to stay close by. He’ll likely sleep up there tonight.

Just before it gets dark is the best time to see flying squirrels. They’re nocturnal animals so you won’t see them by day. I’m not sure I knew there was such a thing but sure enough after gazing upward long enough we see a squirrel run along the branch of a tree and then fly between trees. I wasn’t quick enough to catch it on film but the photo below shows the trees where we saw them. We saw three in total which apparently was very lucky as it can be a rare sight.

Carrying on with our night walk the ranger brings us into an area that is usually off limits to the public. It’s the nursery where the young orangutans who are being looked after are currently sleeping. They are indoors so we don’t get to see them but one was misbehaving earlier and wouldn’t go inside so she’s left outside to find her own bed! Her name is Chiquita:

(She’s the one I posted the video on Facebook with..here it is again for the few of you who aren’t on FB)

By day when you visit the park you’re not allowed to have a bag or bring water, only your camera in your hand. Because we are with the ranger I have my bag around me and Chiquita really wants to get her hands on it so she keeps inching her way closer to me:

After spending quite a while with Chiquita it’s getting dark so we move on and see what else we can find. We come across two wild orangutans getting ready to go asleep. I never realized that they make nests in a tree and that’s where they spend the night, in fact the orangutan is the largest arboreal (spends majority of its time in a tree) animal and it’s the second largest ape (the biggest of course being the gorilla and yes they are on my list to see).

Now that it’s dark we use our torches and spot all kinds of insects and spiders.. it reminds me of being in the Amazon over nine years ago but I’m so much less jumpy now and don’t even scream when I walk into a cobweb… screaming on the inside, screaming on the inside!!

Our walk has lasted nearly two hours and Beddy suggests coming back at 6am to see the orangutans wake up and come down from their nests. I’m in! Just enough time to eat a local meal at the resort and enjoy the amazing one night in my cabin. The Sepilok Nature Resort is on the edge of the rehab Centre separated only by a small lake. It’s gorgeous and the rooms are modern but authentic. I wish I had a couple more nights here.

5:50am I’m up, dressed, quick mouthful of tea and off on my two minute walk to the reserve. The orangutans we saw last night are just up and moving around the trees to get some breakfast. After watching them for a while overhead and avoiding them peeing on us I head back for my own breakfast (which is delish btw). Kenneth collects me at 8:45 and can’t believe how much I’ve seen since he dropped me off last night. We head back into the reserve, spotting a huge snake in a tree on the way in and get to watch a video about how the reserve came to be. An English woman called Barbara Harrison set it up In 1964 in conjunction with the Sabah authorities and has been running it ever since. There was a great piece of footage where one of the helpers rescued an orangutan and I spotted him in the park and had a chat with him and a photo of course!

Once inside, we go to the nursery to see the newer orangutans playing and learning how to climb and get food:

Next it’s off to the sun bear reserve which is literally next door. Sun bears are the smallest of all bears and are in danger of extinction. There is no estimate for how many are actually in the world today. They love honey and are also known as honey bears but apparently Winnie the Pooh is not one.

At first it’s hard to spot them but you have to be patient and after a little while I see movement among the trees and low and behold there’s a little black bear:

One of the key characteristics of the sun bear is the ring around their neck which is a bright yellow cover. Every bears is individual like a fingerprint. It takes a while for one of them to look up so I can get a good look at it but luckily enough one obliges:

After lunch we head back to the sun bear reserve to see what else is going on. Because the reserves are right beside each other a lot of times you’ll see orangutans over at the sun bear section. We had a bit of a run in with Wilma who wanted to get up close and personal with us. She was posing and making funny faces at us:

She actually jumped down and started walking toward us and the ranger told us we’d have to move on quickly… we all moved a little bit but continued to watch her:

The guy in the photo was the only person that side of her…. there was about eight of us on this side. Next thing she does a backwards tumble and starts moving toward the guy in the photo – he legged it looking terrified…. it was so funny. The ranger let a roar at her to get back in the trees and she eventually did.

It’s hard to walk away but we say goodbye to Wilma and head over to the sun bear enclosure where the ranger tells us they’re about to get food. It’s perfect timing as three young ones are here for some coconut. It’s very amusing seeing how they manage the coconuts.. they bash them for a while, pull off the outer skin and eventually get some milk:

Our final stop before we leave the reserve is back to the orangutans for the 3pm feed. We’re there early and see a few macacs climb up onto the feeding platform, see there’s nothing there yet and climb back down. They have good memories and know that food will soon be there. Just before 3pm an orangutan arrives anticipating the ranger arriving with a feed:

The macacs are back and want in on the action…. they are very cautious with the big orangutan there but are brave enough to grab some food:

Our day has come to an end and I feel very lucky with all that I’ve seen. The guide and driver, who I’ve had great fun with all day, drop me to the airport for the short flight back to Kota Kinabalu.

I saw so many cool animals and birds on the two week trip to Sri Lanka.. here’s a few highlights…… by the way I hope I identified everything correctly, feel free to correct me if not

Crocodile:

Wild Boar

A massive ant :

Peacock in a tree:

Peacocks and peahens are everywhere:

Spotted dear:

The infamous leopard (can’t resist posting again):

Storks and other birds:

Some sort of chipmunk:

Lots and lots of monkeys:

Cormorants:

Elephants trying to get out of the National park:

Elephants on the side of the road:

More elephants

Shells on the beach that are tiny crabs:

An eagle:

Turtles with ducks:

Storks:

Can’t remember what you call this!

There were more but you get the gist!!!

• Everyone says hello especially the kids. They shout hi but mostly bye bye. It’s so cute.
• When you cycle through some of the small towns the locals sometimes think you’re in a race… like Tour de France passing through (ha ha) and they shout encouragement and wave at you!
• After 30 years of civil war they are very happy to see tourists
• Lots of ladies walk around under umbrellas which is understandable once you’ve been out in the sun for even a few minutes- it’s roasting!!
• There are a LOT of mosquitoes
• There are no hairdryers in the hotels but I don’t care… I don’t need one – hooray!!
• The hotels are mostly basic – you get a bath towel but no hand towel
• The tea is wonderful although they do tend to serve it with hot milk – easily corrected
• Speaking of milk, the fresh stuff is hard to come by, it’s mostly powdered which is probably why it’s always served hot
• Arrack is the local liquor – it smells a bit like whiskey but doesn’t really taste like it
• Most cars and tuk tuks will beep when passing you on the road either coming toward you or behind you – one beep is a friendly hello, repeated louder beeps means get out of my way!
• Women are very much equals in Sri Lankan society they even do construction jobs. We saw lots of them working on new roads.
• In Sri Lanka the Buddhism practiced is Theravada. In Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet which I’ve come to learn more about it’s Mahayana so the Sri Lankan Buddhists don’t recognize the position of the Dalai Lama.
• Smoking in public places is illegal… my kinda place!
• I didn’t get to check out the tv much but when I did I saw English grammar classes and accounting lessons. There is also a channel for Buddhist teachings, another for the Muslim faith and another for Christians.
• There is no income tax in Sri Lanka even though healthcare and education is free. Apparently you could live in a hospital as they never throw anyone out if they’ve nowhere to go.
• Ice cream tuk tucks drive around and all seem to have the same tune playing – “it’s a small world after all, it’s small world after all”
• My favorite phrase that our guide used was telling us when we had “chill down” time 😀
• There’s always a chance of seeing an elephant no matter where you are.
• There’s very little hassling to buy stuff and in shops and at markets people are really friendly and genuinely want to chat to you and find out where you’re from and welcome you to Sri Lanka
• Lots of restaurants and cafes in Galle don’t sell alcohol- thank god we weren’t staying overnight there!

Day 11: Today is our last day cycling and our first with rain – they’re only showers and it’s still hot so it actually feels nice to be on the bike getting cooled down by the rain. As we cycle from the hotel, away from Tissa and through part of Bundala National Park we cycle in packs in case we encounter wild elephants – alas we don’t but maybe that’s a good thing!

We have a number of stops along the way for some snacks one of which is homemade curd with honey which is delicious.

After departing with our bikes, changing out of our wet clothes (well some of us!) and having some lunch of, you guessed it, rice and curry, we board the bus for our drive to Mirissa. We find out that tomorrow night is a full moon which means a holiday and no booze will be served in bars or restaurants…..ahhhhhhh …. we hit a bottle shop (separate part of the supermarket) and load up on wine, beer, arrack (local liquor) and gin as if it’s about to be Good Friday (for the last time)!

Laden down with booze we arrive to our hotel which is newly built and on the beach. The rooms have four poster beds and sea views and it’s a bit of luxury (except for a lack of hot water in the showers!!). There’s a rooftop pool that overlooks the sea and is a favorite spot for the group to “chill down” and have those few drinks we purchased!

This evening I try an Ayurvedic massage and I love it. Badora spa is an outdoor spa with rooms separated by bamboo. Most of the therapists are male and are clearly very experienced. My sore shoulders and screaming calves are rubbed with vigor and I feel like a new woman after. He spends a lot of time on my feet honing in on certain pressure points and even puts his fingers through all my toes – all at the one time – that felt weird!

Day 12: We have a free morning so hit Mirissa beach, some for a swim, me for a paddle and a jump over the waves!!

It’s a lovely beach and a popular tourist spot. The fishing boats are crazy small.

We try a coconut water from a roadside vendor which is a great thirst quencher and have a swim in the pool before getting ready for an afternoon in Galle.

On our way out of Mirissa we stop to watch the parade that’s been moving through the streets since early that morning in honor of the full moon holiday. It’s very colorful with lots of boys and men dressed as girls!!

Galle is home to a Dutch fort which is a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s a huge fort and we walk around the walls and see the historic gates, the old Dutch hospital and the lighthouse.

There are lots of shops and bars in the small paved streets so we have time for a bit of shopping and try to find somewhere to get a drink. Because of the full moon holiday nowhere is serving alcohol 😩 but when we get to the restaurant for dinner they serve us wine and beer – looks like they are allowed to make an exception for a group of tourists. The food is excellent and we have a local musician play some songs for us. You gotta love an Asian style sing song!

Day 3: We leave Mirissa and board the bus for a three hour journey to Colombo. It’s been hot on this trip but the heat in Colombo is stifling and after a cloudy couple of days the sun is blazing in the city. We walk around the Petta bazaar which is hectic and busy and see Independence square.

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bo is a busy city with lots going on but it's clean and friendly – nowhere near as dirty and grimy as India or Kathmandu. It's tiring walking around in the sun so I'm very happy when we check in to the really nice hotel (Fairway Colombo) and take advantage of a cool air conditioned room and a nice long shower. We have our final dinner tonight and it's one of the best meals so far. It's in the old Dutch hospital in an outside courtyard and it's quite fancy. I have a final arrack cocktail with my girls……

We have another birthday celebration for one of the ladys on the tour and then it's time to say my goodbyes and get to bed early so I can wake up at 4am! This trip has been amazing and everyone on the tour was lovely. I met two couples from Wales who I will definitely be visiting some time soon and am hoping to catch up with most of the Aussie gang in March. Everyone was great and got on really well and I was genuinely sad to say goodbye. A group photo which I'm sure no one will mind me posting on here:

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xt morning as I attempt to leave Colombo for Borneo I manage to somehow get to my gate, that's passed security and immigration, without checking my large suitcase – seems insane right…. but there I was being asked to lift up my huge bag onto this security check going into the actual gate waiting area and being told there's a scissors in it … I was still looking for baggage drop and I was through to the gate…. really not sure how that happened – obviously I was still half asleep (4am wake up call) but no-one thought to question the huge carry-on I was lugging around. I couldn't go back because I'd gone through immigration so I had to sit at the gate desk until they figured out how to tag my bag and get it onto the plane. It was like a comedy of errors. The two girls sorting things out were absolutely lovely but it took forever for them to understand that I was transiting through Kuala Lumpar to Kota Kinabalu. They brought me into another area to weigh the bag and couldn't plug in the scales so they decided to forget the weight and just tag it but only to KL so I'd have to pick up and recheck in. Eventually when they get the bag tagged they tell me all is fine and it will get put in the cargo. An hour later it's still there and they announce my name and tell me I have to take it on the bus with me and drop at the steps to the plane…. at least I knew it got on! After all that when I arrived in KL my onward flight was cancelled and I was put on another later that evening.. probably a blessing in disguise as it took, what would have been all my transit time, to get through immigration and get to the baggage carousel. As I type this I'm just about to land in Kota Kinabalu.. it's 9pm and I'm knackered – am looking forward to my bed!

Bye bye Sri Lanka – Hello Malaysia!

For any of you who’ve traveled to countries a little further afield than your regular Spain, France etc I’m sure you’ll be familiar with the “so where have you been?” conversation… or more to the point “well I’ve been here and I’m going to…” On my recent trip to Southeast Asia “travel competing” was the main topic of conversation!

While eating our dinner in a lovely restaurant in Kathmandu an Australian couple who’d been sitting at another table in the restaurant called by our table on their way out to tell us they’d just been to base camp. We had had no contact with this couple – not a smile or a hello but they wanted to stop and chat.. fine! Once they asked where we were from they then launched into telling us about their trip and where else they’d been and where they were going.. pretty much one way conversation.. it was quite bizarre!

The funniest incident occurred while standing in line at the security check in the tiny airport coming back from Chitwan. A couple of men (late 50’s / early 60’s at a guess) from San Francisco started taking to us, well more talking at us, and felt the need to share where they had just been (same place as us although our resort was more elephant friendly so clearly better!) and showing us photos! One of the two was particularly excited to tell us about this “Hillmans list 100 Places To See Before You Die”. We’d never heard of it so he proceeded to call it up on his phone and go through the list shouting “done it”, “done it”, “gonna do it” – it was hysterical. He had no interest where we’d been just kept going through the list and telling us about all the places he’d been and that he was on track to get through the list… the only thing that stopped him was getting to the top of the queue and having to put his phone away for the security check. We had a good giggle about it later and of course as soon as we had WiFi I googled the list.. those of you who know me know I love ticking stuff off a list and so we calculated our Hillman Number.

We had great fun with our Bhutan tour group as most of us had just been or where going to somewhere else that someone on this trip had just been to or where about to go to!! This meant we could share tips and get first hand recommendations which were insightful and invaluable. Being a very well travelled bunch we decided one night after dinner to see who had been to the most places on the Hillman list. Suzanne and I already knew our Hillman numbers (which were in the high 50’s) but we were among some very seasoned travelers! Our new friend Shanshan won the crown having visited I think 60 or over. It was a bit nerdy but with a few glasses of wine and beer in the mix it was great fun. Listing the countries visited put in a few hours traveling on the bus too. I’m happy to report that I was right up there with the best of them coming in at 51 at the time of the Bhutan trip and soon to be 52 by the time I’m home from this adventure!!

On the Sri Lanka trip we had a lot of very well traveled folks too, all very modest about their traveling expeditions I must say. We had some more fun with Hillmans list: