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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