It’s been a busy time! Kristie finally arrived on the 19th after the big muck up with her tickets. The travel agency were very good and pulled out all stops to get her here as quickly as possible and put her up in the Hilton in Cairns for the night and gave her a travel credit of $150 but it was still disappointing that the girls didn’t get to travel together.
The weather was wet for the first 5 days so it was difficult to do much in Langkawi, except a bit of shopping.(oh what a shame!) We had a beautiful Norwegian dinner cooked for us on Xmas eve on Southern Star by Per and Elisabeth from Oda. Absolutely delicious and a good night was had by all. There was many laughs and a few high jinks (as there always is with Per) including drinking (water) whilst standing upside down on your head! Per, Kristie and Robbie all proved they could do this.
Xmas day dawned with blue sky which was most welcome, and Brad, Kristie’s boyfriend flew in mid-morning. It was 12 by the time they arrived back at the marina on the ferry, just in time for the buffet lunch we had booked at the Resort. We sat with Per and Elisabeth and had a lovely lunch including Turkey, Prawns, and all the trimmings, it really was beautiful. It cost 110 ringgit and included free flowing champagne, so about AUS $36 it was a bargain.
We circumnavigated the island over a couple of days and visited the National Park island of Pulau Payar but it was too rough so we came back and continued on our journey around Langkawi to the hole in the wall – an amazing anchorage almost completely enclosed, after a narrow entrance through rocks, with a number of restaurants which are basically shacks on stilts in the water. There are miles of mangrove river to explore with monkeys, monitor lizards which you see swimming, and lots of Eagles feeding.
We then headed around to the Andaman and the Daitai Resorts in Daitai Bay, which were absolutely stunning, and had the cutest monkeys we have seen, which were black with white rings around their eyes. One of them had a baby and it was a pure ginger colour, very tiny and very cute. Brad and Kristie followed us in the duck a lot of the time and they explored the bays and mangroves a bit. Robbie, Brad and Jess went fishing but only caught a few little rock cod which they didn’t keep. Kristie and I did face masks and drank wine while they were gone which was very pleasant! ***brad krsitie duck
We farewelled Kristie, Brad and Jessie on the 29th as they flew to Bangkok for 5 days for New Year’s Eve, I hate saying goodbye! That was way too short and sweet! Kristie and Brad then continued on their travels through Vietnam.
Paul and Tracey Grace arrived on the 29th for 8 days which was great, again we circumnavigated Langkawi stopping at the hole in the wall, and Daitai Bay again but unfortunately for Tracey, we could not find the cute monkeys this time. We also toured the island one day by car (another 50 ringgit dunga – much worse than the worst rent a bomb!), stopping at the beautiful Tanjung Rhu beach which was really gorgeous. We had lunch at the nearby Tanjung Rhu resort, which was very exclusive and expensive – we were escorted on and off the premises by a security guard and were allowed in the bar/restaurant but that was all, (maybe something to do with the dunga car??) but it had the most beautiful bathrooms which were actually an open air toilet in the garden, surrounded by beautiful ferns and plants, it was stunning!
We played lots of 500 and Tracey and I flogged Robbie and Paul!! We also wined and dined, a lot including lunch at the beautiful restaurant on Cenang beach overlooking the bay. We dined in the resort and also at the “Hard Dock Café” which is the restaurant just for the marina residents and the food and drinks are extremely cheap, e.g. beer was 7 ringgit.
Jessie arrived back, for a few days and then sadly Tracey and Paul left on the 6th, Jessie flew home on the 11th, more sadness, and Robbie’s Mum Elsie, and sister Gill arrived on the 11th. We had such a good time with all the visitors and did lots of touristy things like the cable car which is the highest in the world and very scary for me, I hate heights!
We went to the islands South of Langkawi with Elsie and Gill and visited “the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden”, the water is supposed to be very fertile! There is an old tale about the lake, anyway Gill and I decided we didn’t to become pregnant but it didn’t stop Robbie from swimming in it!!
We ended up circumnavigating Langkawi 3 times on Southern Star. It is a very beautiful island with lots of small picturesque islands off of it, but we were disappointed with the water clarity.
We spent this time based out of the marina at Rebak Island Resort. This was a very protected marina which was great, and very calm. The pool was beautiful and the small beach was nice. We were able to use all the facilities which was good. Gill, Robbie and I did the guided nature walk early one morning which was a lot of fun and Nanny, Gill and I also did a Thai cooking class in the Resort. We were the only participants and we made Thai fried rice, and then ate it, it was delicious – although we were a bit dubious about the dried fish in it, but it was very tasty.
Of course there were more 500 games and Gill and I flogged the pants off Robbie and his Mum which was very funny (for Gill and I anyway).
Very sadly, we farewelled Elsie and Gill on the 23rd, it was so good to have them on board and they were the best guests! We hired another Mr Din 50 ringgit special to get them to the airport and then headed into Kuah to complete our exit from Malaysia which included a visit to the Harbour Master, Customs and then Immigration. Luckily they are all in the one building and there were no fees or charges to pay. Tick for Malaysia – very Yacht friendly!
We then shopped and brought meat and a few fresh veges as I had stocked up on fruit & veg from the mobile guy in the morning. We boxed the frozen and fresh meat in a double layer of boxes so it wouldn’t thaw out, just as well, as the 50 ringgit special conked out when we got to Cenang! We were trying to rush and meet the 4:30pm ferry to Rebak but missed it. Rang Mr Din and he said that car does that sometimes, just wait for half an hour and it will go. Great, 34 degrees and meat in the back, luckily we were in the shade. The petrol gauge was quite low so Robbie jumped in a cab and went and brought some petrol, we put it in and bingo she went straight away! Not sure if it was the fuel or not, doubtful as she fired up straight away. So we sat and waited for 45 minutes for the next ferry, we were not game to go and eat anything (we hadn’t had lunch) in case she wouldn’t start again. We loaded up our parcels on our new collapsible trolley that Gill had brought us and onto the ferry for the last time. Tomorrow we head for Thailand!
