Sunday, December 13, 2009

WEEK 33: 5 December - 11 December - Telaga Harbour, Malaysia

DAY 227 - Saturday 5 December - Kuah, Langkawi
Had a quiet start to the day starting to prepare for going home. Walked to the marina and met In Transit there and had a drink with them. People have big snakes everywhere thinking silly tourists would want to put them round their necks and have photos taken - why would you!!!! Makes walking down the street a challenge sometimes. Checked out the shopping centre then went to the night markets and bought lots of food to take home for dinner.

DAY 228 - Sunday 6 December - Kuah, Langkawi
Walked to the end of town and back and found another shopping centre and then ran into Braveheart. Did some shopping and then back to the boat. Sounds boring hey but its really not when you are in different exotic places!!

DAY 229 - Monday 7 December - Kuah - Telaga Harbour
06°21.723N 99°40.813E
Went to town and got Peter some shirts - ran into Braveheart and had lunch. Upanchored at 1.30pm to head around the corner but the beach looked very busy so we kept going to Telaga Harbour arriving at 4.50pm. We anchored in only 3.7m of water with a heap of other yachts and had a very comfortable night.
Miles: 16 Total: 5,430

DAY 230 - Tuesday 8 December - Telaga Harbour
Sat on the boat watching the tide go down to 1.7m (0.3m under the keel) then went into the marina and had a look around. We walked up to the cable car, avoided a tourist snake and fed the deer and thought we could walk back quicker via the beach so got a lift in one of the resort buses and walked through the resort and down the beach. But there was a river which we could not get across so had to walk all the way back - couldn't get on the resort bus as you needed a resort room key!! When we got back we noticed an old boat on the beach which appeared to be a bar. Cilantro and Kristie came in and we had sundowners on the beach.

DAY 231 - Wednesday 9 December - Telaga Harbour
We got picked up in buses at 9.30 and were taken on a tour starting with a museum and grave of a beautiful young girl named Mahsuri. She was put to death in the 1800s when falsely accused of adultery and she put a curse on the island for seven generations and for that length of time Langkawi had a hard time but is now thriving. We then went to a batik factory and then lunch at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and then down town Kuah for a quick shop. We were going to meet a few people on the beach for sundowners but decided to go and check out the local makan places to see if we could get takeaway and decided to have a beer at the old boat bar. It was run by a lovely fellow named Faizel who is an absolute delight and the only patron was a pom named Colin who spent a lot of time there over the years so we had a Collin promotion (2 beers for the price of one - a suggestion by Colin put on the menu). We were so impressed we wacked around to all the boats with whom we were going to have sundowners and told them to go to the pirate bar. We had a fantastic night and ended up at the local restaurant for dinner.

DAY 232 - Thursday 10 December - Telaga Harbour
Happy Birthday Peter
Had a quiet morning and then went with Cilantro and Kristie up in the cable car - I believe it is the steepest in the world. Margaret was conquering her fears and Peter managed to also walk across the curved footbridge suspended at the top. I don't think any of us were going to do it so we all did very well!!! Then we had to rustle up a crew as Faizel at the pirate bar was beside himself with excitement as he had a surprise for Mr Peter!!! We got there at 6pm and Faizel brings out a beautiful chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Peter written on it and a great big pirate sword. So we had cake with Faizel and Colin, Kristie and Cilantro and Braveheart but by the time Bill off Liaison came in we had finished the cake. We then went to the local restaurant next door for dinner. Peter had a wonderful birthday.

DAY 233 - Friday 11 December - Telaga Harbour, Langkawi, Malaysia
Quiet boat day. Met at the pirate bar at 5.30pm and so many cruisers turned up we needed another boat!! Someone put it out over the radio so the secret was out!!! Then we walked around to the resort for the final Sail Malaysia 2009 dinner. The food was fabulous and there was so much of it and the setting was gorgeous and the people great. Had the best time, said a few farewells and a few see you next years and it was a marvellous end to the rally. Faizel came down to say goodbye as well but hey we will see him again next year too!!!

This is the last blog for 2009. We fly out to Adelaide arriving on 15 December and will arrive Brisbane around the 17/18th. As you know our house is rented out so we will be staying with some dear friends in Albany Creek (thanks Linda and Brian!!!).

It has been an amazing year and we have done and seen some absolutely amazing things. It has been a year of ups and downs, the worst thing being losing our little Jack when we weren't there but we have met and travelled with some truly amazing people. The cruising community really is something else and a lot of them have become something of a travelling family for us all. We will return to the boat which will remain in Rebak Marina in Langkawi in January/February hopefully after catching up with all our loved ones. Next year will be an exciting one and I will commence the blog when we return to the boat but will keep it much shorter than it has been but this year we wanted you all to share with us what we were doing, step by step!! Next year will be cruising year - no rallies - but hanging around Thailand a lot, maybe some land travel and perhaps some much needed work on the boat. And maybe it would be nice to have some visitors from home!! We have to say that Indonesia and Malaysia have been very economic places to spend time and we look forward to also being able to afford to enjoy life in Thailand! Rallies also definitely have their place and I would recommend the Sail Indonesia rally as a starting point to your overseas travels and friendships.

So till we meet again we wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year and don't just dream your dreams - go out and live them.

Much love
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter

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Saturday, December 5, 2009

WEEK 32: 28 November - 4 December - Georgetown to Kuah, Malaysia

Congratulations to Kristen and John and we hope your wedding day was everything you wished for!

DAY 220 - Saturday 28 November - Georgetown
Did some sight seeing - went to the Pinang Peranakan Mansion which is a Chinese house and absolutely beautiful and well worth a visit. Had a rickshaw ride (ordinary) and then went to the Indian fare. Went to the Red Lantern nightmarket for dinner with Whistle and Kristie. Kristie left early as they had left their hatches open and it looked like rain. We walked to the Eastern and Oriental hotel with Jean and David and then a slow walk back to the boat.

DAY 221 - Sunday 29 November - Georgetown
Caught the bus to Penang Hill and went up on the train. It took ¼ hour then changed to another train for another ¼ hr to the top. Fantastic views. Spent an hour so then went to the Kek Lok Si Temple. Had trouble finding the entrance but turned out to be through an alleyway full of little stalls - about 1km of them! Seemed to be a few temples up and down and all over the place. Then we caught a lift to the new temple which is almost finished - opening is 6 December. It is a statue of a Goddess about 8 storeys high with four huge pillars. The workmanship was just amazing. Peter commented that we couldn't do anything like that in Australia. The folds in the Goddess's robe were just amazing. They were just finishing carving the fourth pillar. It was an amazing place. Caught the bus back and then went to the Red Lantern for dinner again. We were sitting on our deck when we got back that night and we saw a rat run down the length of the catamaran next door and run down the mooring line into the water. Chris and Judy off Braveheart invited us on to their catamaran and said that they had a rat peering in at them through the hatch the night before. Peter saw something move out of the corner of his eye and there was the rat still on their boat!! We managed to chase it off and into the water!!!

DAY 222 - Monday 30 November - Georgetown
The rally boats all came into the marina today. We didn't do much through the day and went to the cruise terminal next door in the evening for a rally dinner. There were a group of children playing huge drums - the sound reverberated around the place. They were wonderful and then there were some very good dancers on after that. The official who welcomed us told us what wonderful food they have in Malaysia and then we got the worst meal ever!! It was cold and most of it inedible so we went back to the boats and had a beer!

DAY 223 - Tuesday 1 December - Georgetown
We were going to leave today but at 6am it was a bit windy and sprinkly rain so we stayed. Just walked around town and didn't do much. About 4.30 it bucketed down rain and rained solidly till around 7pm. We went out to an Indian restaurant after that and were joined by Lazy Bones. A pleasant evening.

DAY 224 - Wednesday 2 December - Georgetown to Palau Bunting
05°52.309N 100°19.248
Brian on Kristie caught a rat in a trap on his boat so Peter went off to get us some rat traps. We left about 10am to go 25m to Palau Bunting. Had to avoid myriad fish nets on the way up the channel. It was a hard day flogging into the wind and the current. At one point we were only doing 3 knots! We finally made it to Palau Bunding after 7 hours which was the furthest of three islands and the one we thought would give us the most shelter. We arrived around 5.10pm and had the calmest night. It was a very peaceful spot. The islands are much like in the Whitsundays and this one had a causeway running out to it but obviously it had never been used. We don't know if there was actually anything on the island. Lovely night.
Miles: 28 Total: 5,364

DAY 225 - Thursday 3 December - Palau Bunting to Palau Dayang bunting
06°12.065N 99°48.825E
We left at 7am and headed for Langkawi . Passed heaps of fish traps marked with flags. We had the best sail we have had in ages. We sailed the entire 40 miles on a beam reach with the main and headsail out and averaged 6.6 knots - fantastic! We passed the island which is between Georgetown and Langkawi which a lot of people headed for and we couldn't work out where you could possibly anchor on that island - looked terrible. We arrived at 1.15pm but when we anchored we just started spinning so when Bach & Byte left their anchorage we moved around there - it was still a bit windy but we were not spinning.
Miles: 40 Total: 5,404

DAY 226 - Friday 4 December - Palau Dayang Bunting to Kuah, Langkawi
06°18.773N 99°50.701E
The boat turned a bit funny through the night. Went into shore at 9am to see the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden. Saw some monkeys we hadn't seen before - black with white moustaches. The lake was just a lake really with big cliffs around. We left just in time because as soon as we got in the dinghy boat loads of tourists came around the corner. We got back to our boat and realised that our boat had actually dragged quite a way further out so we upanchored at 10.15am and headed for the major town of Langkawi - Kuah. Langkawi is the biggest of 99 islands - beautiful, rocks, karsts, jungle etc. We arrived at Kuah at 12.15pm and anchored with a heap of other boats in 5m off the town. We can see the marina from here and it sure looks pretty full! We went to town to check out the duty free. A slab of Carlsberg beer is $12.60. A 1 litre bottle of Jack Daniels $21 and 1 litre Captain Morgan rum $12. A packet of tobacco only $2.70 Walked through a heap of shops then Dell went back to the boat while Peter went to the supermarket - he wanted lamb chops!!!
Miles: 10 Total: 5,414

Thursday's trip was the last major leg we will be doing for this year. Next week we take the boat around the island to Rebak Marina where we will leave her while we come home for Christmas. We fly out on the 14th and arrive Adelaide on the 15th and will probably be in Brisbane around 17/18th. Our mobile numbers should be operational after that should you wish to contact us. Peter's is 0488 069 380. Dell's is 0427 137 971.

Love and Cheers
Fair winds and calm seas

Dell and Peter

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