the perhenthian islands

in the islands and surprise, surprise, ive ended up getting 'stuck' here! on my second day i was offered a job as a greeter at a hotel here - i meet the boats when they come in and try to bring in customers. in exchange i get free room and board - pretty good deal! ive become good friends with the instructors at the dive school since its right next door to the hotel and also the best spot for hanging out and watching the jetty waiting for the boats to come in. besides a bit of snorkeling and diving, we dont do a whole lot here! on the island, theres no ATM or bank, no grocery stores, no nothing except a few minimarts, restaurants, dive centers, and hotels. some restaurants dont even have chairs, just bamboo mats on the sand! it is a 10 minute walk through the jungle to the other side of the island (long beach, im in coral bay), where there are better restaurants (though havent been able to sample those as much since im getting free food here) but otherwise more of the same. this side faces southwest, though, so you can see the sunset! speaking of, thats what im about to do right now...

taman negara

only have 10 minutes - im currently on my bus from taman negara to the perethian islands - no internet on either!

taman negara was great - the oldest rainforest in the world. we got their via a long bus trip and then a 3 hour boat ride in a traditional long boat down the river! we got stuck twice and all of us had to get out to push - how cool! by the end all of our butts had gone numb, but well worth the experience. the first night there we went on a night safari - 4x4ing through the palm oil plantations and saw leopard cats, birds, and cows. the next day i was up early to go on the canopy walk (scary - 40 meters up!) and then hiked to a swimming hole. in the late afternoon we went caving (with a tour) which was a highlight for me. there were thousands of bats in the cave and we had to do quite a bit of rock climbing to get through, as well as squeezing through some impossibly tights holes in the rock (i wasnt so worried since i was the littlest of the group anyhow!). by the end we were compleetely covered with mud and bat poo, but had a stellar time. this morning were heading to the islands to do some diving and relaxing, cant wait!!

more to come

kuala lumpur

arrived in kuala lumpur (KL) yesterday. KL is the capital of malaysia and a crazy, bustling city. such a difference from neat, orderly singapore... we spent the whole of today lost in the non-sensible (to our western minds, at least) streets. making it more interesting to navigate is the complete lack of pedestrian right-of-way!

to start the adventure from the beginning though...
i was really excited and a little bit nervous to make the leap from safe, clean, orderly, english speaking singapore to malaysia, starting with the bus trip. we got to the bus station to find that the express (easy) bus wasnt going to be leaving for another 2 hours so instead we took the cheaper bus route (no complains, really) by taking one bus to the border (one hour) and then changing buses to get one to KL. a little more difficult that in sounds since during that first bus route you have to get off the bus twice and go through both singapore and then malaysia customs - trying to get through before the bus leaves you (almost happened to us both times since we were the only westerners on the bus so took longer to get through than the malays and singaporians). once we got on the 5 hour bus to KL though, things were silky smooth... had big reclining seats so slept most of the way! and all together it cost half price switching buses! more difficulty came when we got into KL, because the bus depot that we were supposed to go into was closed (typical KL from my 2 days of experience!) so got dropped off outside of the city and had to try to find a bus to our hostel from there. finally managed though by the time we got in we were pretty knackered and only went to dinner and bed.

today was the day of being lost around the city! also managed to sneak in an hour massage in there (its too tempting with the prices here!) and figuring out how to get to taman negara, our next destination (leaving tomorrow morning!). in between the lost we checked out the Lake Gardens, Orchid Gardens, and Planetarium (worth its RM$1 a hundred times over for the blasting air con in the middle of the day!!). in the morning i discovered a brilliant tradition - people on their way to work stop at street vendors to pick up little paper wrapped packages of noodles and such for their lunch, for about RM$1! okay so you might not immediately see the genius, but just imagine instead of preparing your lunch every morning, you can sleep in those extra minutes and pick up a prepackaged, healthy delicious lunch on the way for the same price! well i thought it was a little something different that was nice :)

speaking of food, i havent even mentioned yet how INSANELY good the food is here! in singapore staying in little india i had some of the best meals of my life, and everything here has been soooo good so far as well! flavorful and spicy and yummm! plus its so inexpensive i now eat about 8 meals a day... probably not a good habit to pick up on after getting back into good shape in australia, but i figured for my first week i should allow myself to eat any and all of the amazing food i pass by :) next week ill start being more reasonable (maybe!)
another malaysian fav (that i hear is even bigger in thailand) is the packets of freshly cut fruit from street vendors, again for about RM$1 (which is US$.25, by the way) - yummy fresh mango and cut pineapple and anything else, already cut up and ready to eat, fresh and so delish! the best possible snack in the heat of the afternoon...

travel!

yayyy found a travel buddy! sally, a Scottish girl who has been travelling in se asia for 4 weeks now, and i are headed to malaysia tomorrow morning, into kuala lumpur (the capital of malaysia). its a 6 hour bus ride, so plenty of time to finalize details for the rest of our malaysia trip. the game plan at the moment is to spend 2 nights in KL, then on the Jungle Railroad to taman negara national park for some trekking before off to Perhentian Island for one of the worlds best dive spots and also a turtle sanctuary! After that, will either be heading to east malaysia and then indonesia, or right into thailand (crossing the border via boat from the top of malaysia is one of the safest ways of going in) which is what im leaning towards. from there id be working my way up from the south.

any advice/suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated!

today in singapore i went to the zoo... normally im not a big fan of zoos because i dont like to see the animals caged up and the whole thing is a little too artificial for my tastes. the singapore zoo is cool though because instead of cages they have a little environment for each type of animal, separated by a moat (for those who cant swim) or land (for those who can), so it was a really cool way to see them! my favorite was the zebras - theyre so beautiful! the flamingos were also a cool surprise favorite, and of course i loved the always cute penguins and turtles.

singapore

arrived in singapore yesterday! im a day later than i expected to be, my flight was cancelled so they had to bump me to the next day... however in return i got put up in a flash hotel for the night, with meals included! absolute luxury for a backpacker... my own room, double bed, fresh towels, mini shampoo/body wash/etc, tv, ensuite, on and on...

so excited to finally get to singapore though! it really is an incredibly run city, so neatly efficient, beautiful, clean, and courteous i can barely believe it. so far in my explorations of the city (where im staying in little india, the flash shops of orchid road, the botanical gardens, and a few back streets i got lost on, i have not yet seen one piece of litter, nor one homeless person. everything is in its place, streets and directions are VERY clearly marked, and perfectly groomed trees line the streets. wow.

only downside to this city is the rampant humidity - i thought i would be used to it coming from queensland, but man does it pack a punch here! luckily in singapore the tap water is safe to drink or else id be spending a fortune on bottled water!

now im getting on with the business of finding a travel buddy. met two friends last night, one of whom already has a flight into indonesia in a couple days (a possibility perhaps) and one who is just finishing his travels. oh well, need to keep meeting and greeting!

Next Step

On Friday 16 April I am flying to Singapore to start my SE Asia trip! SOoooo excited to finally get this leg of the trip underway. From singapore, my tentative plans are to take a boat around malaysia and indonesia, and then from there make my way to the mainland to go to thailand, laos, cambodia, and vietnam. perhaps india, tibet, and nepal while im at it! i figured it is best to figure it out as i go along, since most of the travel is by boat, bus, or train and no telling how much im going to love these places until i get there!

so very, very excited!

Sydney

wowwowow, 7 months later and back where i started - wake up hostel in syndey! cant believe 7 months have flown by. though i am SO greatful for the warm weather and access to my aussie bank and phone...

now for the difficult task of deciding whats next, trying to find a travel buddy for se asia and figuring out life.

wanaka

sad news... i didnt get to go on the helicopter because of the weather :(

but onwards - so im currently in wanaka, a cute little town right on lake wanaka and surrounded by mountains (in winter its a hugely popular ski destination). last night went to their notorious cinema where you sit on comfy couches and there is an intermission to go get freshly baked cookies from the 'snack bar' - very fun. easter came and went without any fuss (except for the closing of shops) and now its onto queenstown! i head there today for 2 nights, and will be bungee jumping!!!! im soooo excited about it. queenstown is where bungee jumping was invented as we currently know it today and is the home of the first ever commercial bungee jump site. needless to say, it is a BIG DEAL in queenstown and i cant wait to try it out!
after that is just a night in Christchurch and then my flight back to sydney where i will hopefully be able to sort out my SE Asia plans.

in other exciting news... Duke plays in the NCAA national basketball championship today!!! unfortunately i will be on a BUS for the game so unable to watch (i would have changed my bus but then i would have had to miss my flight out of here... sigh) but will be rooting for them from my ride to queenstown.... GO DUKE!

wellington, picton, able tasman, barrytown, franz josef

this week im down in the south island! but first things first - i stopped in wellington for a couple of days, which is the capital of nz and a really nice city - very livable. in my 2 days there i went to the national museum and the botanical gardens, the latin festival and the farmers market for fresh produce. lovely couple of days!
after a lovely 3 hour ferry ride to the south island, i was in picton, which is the gateway to the Marlborough wine region. stayed in a realllly fantastic hostel called the villa, which was quirky and charming and friendly - i loved it. there, i went on a one day wine tour of Marlborough vineyards (famous for its sav blancs), a really great day!
next up, back on the bus and heading to able tasman, another nz national park with great hiking. we had absolutely beautiful weather so enjoyed doing the coastal hike and stopping at the beaches along the way.
almost not worth mentioning is our next stop, barrytown, which im pretty sure is just thrown in there because stray gets a bigger kick back than usual from us staying there. sigh, commercialism.
but nowwwww.... dum dum dum! im in franz josef! at the moment my co bus riders are currently hiking up a huge block of ice known as a glacier. no thank you! im waiting until the afternoon and seeing it all from the warmth and comfort of a helicopter!! so excited! i was masochistically going to make myself do the hike, but realize i wouldnt be able to enjoy it at all with the cold and ice everywhere - and ive never taken a helicopter ride and have always wanted to! soooo excited, fingers crossed it wont be cancelled (for weather)!

next stop is wanaka, then queenstown, then christchurch, then flying out back to sydney! i can barely believe i only have a few more days here... and so much to do!