Just Cruizin On Bluemoon

Log 88

Well … talk about a change in plan!LOL Not unusual with John or I. We decided with our 20th wedding anniversary coming up that we wanted to do somethingdifferent … now we did think of dressing up like the Singaporeansdo on their wedding pic day, and posing on the beach doing someamazing stances and aerobic movements while they clicked away withthe camera with the sea in the background, but thought of how long itwould take for us to recover with whip lash and our joints out ofplace … so decided on going somewhere.

John wanted to surprise me with a tripaway, but had to tell me his plan as he wanted my choice out ofAustralia, New Zealand, Bali or Borneo … So after deciding togetheron Borneo, we wandered if we should go deep into the mountains or goto a city and, and, and …. so after much delicious time looking atall the pros and cons, we decided we did not want to go to the oceanas such, or an island and wanted to go and see the orang utans!!!

We told the kids they would be spendinga week on their own, then a few days later after all the arrangementswere made, headed out with a taxi to the airport all excited with our'over packed suitcases' which were way over the 7kg each list andwere let through without any issues. Of course our plane was runninglate, though that did not dampen our spirits.

We had a pretty bad storm we wentthrough and so bumped around quite a bit, but had our pilot chatevery now and then to let us know all was okay and that we would infact land without a hitch, so we ordered coffee which we paid for,then an hour and fifty minutes later with the wind on the nose LOLarrived in Kutching, Sarawak where we headed straight for a coffeeshop!

Kutching is the capital of Sarawak,Malaysia's largest state and it is simply wonderful!! This place isso romantic and has such unlikely history... a charming place!! Wewere warmly welcomed and found the people here to be just sofriendly!!

We decided to put our takkies on andreally tour this place!!!! But first get to the hotel in the rain andbook in … We enjoyed our chatty taxi driver giving us the generaltour guide till we got to the Pullman, our 5 star hotel. Now you mustremember, those who know us, that John and I have never yet taken ahoneymoon since we were married!!! We could not take time out fromworking with family and so have travelled all over the world, yetnever been on a honeymoon!! LOL SOOOooooooo..... this was it!! Onour own, feeling like we were in another Country, we decided to pullout all the stops and go for luxury, spoiling ourselves whileenjoying ourselves … and that we did!!!

The rain came down hard, yet we decided to take a stroll around and see the place a little, so off we went,in the rain, walking down the waterfront, watching some locals fish,enjoying a lovely dinner, buying our coffee, sugar and milk, thenheaded back to the hotel late and experienced that 'spoiltness' witha looooonnnnnnngggggggg HOT shower!!! hehehehe We felt like twonaughty kids!! Wasting water!!! Wasting power!! Gosh!! We need totouch land every now and again other than feeling like we come from acave!!! LOL

We woke early, went down to breakfastat puzzles, and ate so much that you could have rolled both John andI out of the chairs and we would not have moved we were so solid!!!Now I see what they mean by eat as much as you want!!! They shouldhave said at your own risk and given us warning!

We walked down to the bike shop andhired a motorbike. Put petrol in then just headed out to wherever theroad took us … wow!! We went back to the waterfront where we took along walk admiring the unique beauty of winding river … Sampan's(river boats) dot the water here and there and all looks so peaceful!We stopped for a good few cuppa's while deciding what we wanted to doand see …

Kutching has an unusual name – theword actually means 'cat' in Malay. You will find quite a few storiesas to how this name came about, but it is unlikely that it hasanything to do with cats!!!! The two more likely explanations arethat it derives from the Chinese word Kochin, meaning'harbour' , or that it is named after the mata kuching or'cat's eye' fruit, a close relative of the lychee that grows widelyhere. Cats statues are everywhere! Very colourful and lovely to see –not that I am a cat person … Now John and I spotted ' The Great Catof Kuching' which is a monumental kitsch statue, which is situated atthe junction of Jln Pdungan and Jln Central and also after years ofbeing the king of kitsch, the Great Cat now has a competitor – LOL- the Cat Statue opposite one of the hotels near the waterfrontcircle!! Anyways, John and I went around and around and AROUND thisjunction three times so I could get a picture without all thetraffic!!! Every time I started clicking, a car or bike would blockmy view … It was just so funny! Anyway, after getting the photo'swe went into Jln Padungan which is lined with Chinese shop houses,mostly built in the 1920's and 30's during the rubber boom. Some arevery elegantly decorated and walking around the backs of thesebuildings reveals some fascinating architectural details! Of coursethe area has some excellent coffee shops!! and restaurants,handicraft shops and some specialist retailers. Colourful andpretty!! Then it was past Jln India which is lined with shops sellingall kinds of goods, though mainly textiles.

Like all towns and cities in Borneo,the focal point of Kuching, and the reason for its existence, is theriver! We decided you cannot come to Kutching and not go meanderslowly up and down the river on a sampan so that was on the agendaalong with a long list of other must do's!! We were having such fun!!Also decided we would not see anything in an air-conditioned hotel –so only came back late to shower and sleep x Ok … museum day,though I can only see so many without becoming museumed out! So,there was the Sarawak Museum, the Islamic Museum which we never wentin …. The Textile Museum was really well done, taking you backright to the beginning of how it all started … showcases offascinating traditional textiles, most notable, of which are the Ibanpua kumbu and the Malay kain songket. There are showcases whichhouses a superb collection of both antique and modern textiles,silverware and jewellery. You can also watch the weavers at work, orlearn the craft yourself, that is if you have a year or two to spare!LOL! Even more textiles and other hand crafts can be found … youcan even sign up for courses to study many different types of craftskills and traditional dance lessons xx Good thing I bought the danceCds heheheh not sure when I will get the chance, but will make sure Icomplete the challenge! Then you have the world's first Cat Museum,which devotes to all things that are feline … now that is for catlovers, which unfortunately I am not xx Yes, I like cats, but wayprefer dogs x So many museums!

John and I had breakfast the nextmorning and thought we would have enough time to get to theOrangutans, cause it was just 12 ks (I think) out of town … what wefailed to include was getting out of town first!!!! So we arrivedlate! Got to see just a few of these incredible, stunning animals. Iwanted to cry!! I told John we would come back again and again tillwe got the full deal when one of the rangers told us to go see alonghouse, etc … etc … and to come back at 3pm!! Well … we werenow so excited yet wondered how we could kill 6 hours!!!!! Let metell you the time flew and we made it back with 15 minutes to spare!!We rode out to Borneo Highlands which was truly stunning! Windingroads, lush jungle around us with the mountains (big hills) in thedistance – around 1000 meters above sea level. Fresh air, open road… it was awesome!!! We stopped along the road for coffee andsomething to eat which was always exciting as you get to speak to somany people who are interested in where you come from and why youthere x We went to an Iban long house where their hospitality is justlegendary! A long house is basically a terraced street of separatedwellings covered by one roof, under the authority of a headman, ortuai rumah. Each family lives in its separated apartment, orbilik, and communalactivities take place outside on the verandah, or ruai.Most longhouses are busy, modernfarming communities, and people wear practical clothes like jeans andT-shirts when they are at work. Traditional costumes and head dressesare usually only worn for special festivals like gawaidayak (the Iban harvestfestival, 1stJune) and a few others. You are normally greeted with a glass of tuakwhich is rice wine and a welcomedance. We were not staying so did not have the normal greeting lol xThey expect you to contribute to the entertainment just like thehosts and you cannot refuse – it would be more than rude! Anydances, folk songs or poems from your own country will make you somelifelong friends no matter how badly you perform. People can stay fora night or up to a week or more. You learn to do things like they do,help out as though you were part of the family.

We meta lovely family at the Sunshine cafe' at one of the homestays, afterdoing the rounds and needing a good cuppa x wow x You realize howsimple life is and how content they actually are and how nice to seethey are not taken by having material things to make them happy! Afew good lessons to be learned from this! You can use the opportunityto stay with the local communities where you can participate in thedaily village activities and excursions to nearby attractions. Thescenery is just picturesque!!! So Beautiful!! We returned and headedback to the Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabititation Centre which islocated south of Kutching. It is a 1613 acre Nature Reserve whichaccepts animals either orphaned , injured or rescued from captivitythen re introduced back into the wild. It is not a zoo – unlessthey are quarantined. The animals are not kept in cages and are freeto roam about in the lush green forest canopy. Did you knowOrang-utan means 'forest people' in the local language, and the namefits well given the primates superior intelligence and human likepersonalities x Also in 1996 a team of researchers witnessed a groupof these orang-utans who were making sophisticated tools which theywere sharing with each other to extract seeds from the fruit!!.Orang-utans are native only to Borneo and Sumatra with as little as54,000 who live on the island of Borneo. Female orang-utans typicallyproduce only one offspring every seven or eight years, hence thedwindling population x

Seduku - the "grandmother" atthe Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre – (we never saw her)was born in 1971 and has given birth to several offspring. Ritchie -the alpha male in the refuge – who is just incredible!!! He weighsover 300 pounds and was rescued by a journalist. Most of theorang-utans at the centre are named and the rangers can easilyidentify them with just a glance. There are also many pleasantgardens, nature walks, and an arboretum along the main path throughthe wildlife centre. It is really peaceful and makes you feel onewith nature!! Ritchie made a truly grand entrance! Breaking andshaking trees as he headed out! We had to stand real still when hemade his entrance … stopped and just looked at us!!! He was so cuteI wanted to give him a huge hug and a big kiss!!!! Well … that wastill I saw him move again with such power and agility!!!! He takes acoconut and just gives it a little tap and crash! Pieces go flying!!Imagine your skull??? What an awesome experience!!! By early eveningwhen we could not tear our eyes away from these incredible animals,the clouds got heavier and darker!! We decided when the lastorang-utan climbed up to his nest that we would make a dash for itand hopefully miss the huge storm rolling in … wind was swirlingthe leaves and we could see this was going to be quite a big one …we ran for the bike and headed out noting we did not see another bikeon the road …. a little odd of course … well – we got caughtright in the middle of it and were totally drenched!!!!!!! It wasfreezing cold!!! Managed to go under a cover by the petrol stationwhere hundreds of bikes were taking shelter .. . we were the only'wet' ones!!! You could see they wanted to laugh but never did xx Hada wonderful hot shower after getting home still dripping wet –warming up and holding onto the fantastic images of our day.

There are quite a few river cruises,that ferries tourists along the Sarawak River though we opted for a 'real cruise' on a sampan (locally known as a tambang) which is asmall river boat.

It was a glorious day … John lazedout relaxing on the soft mats while I was jumping around trying toget as many pics as I could …. the current is pretty strong yet ourguide knew how to manage easily his motor and paddles. We meanderedleisurely down the long twisting and turning, calm looking river …taking in all the highlights while being mesmerized by the tranquillife of the people who live in thatched roof houses on stilts by theriver … which provides a direct contrast to the modern buildings ofthe international hotels and shopping malls on the opposite side ofthe river. Somehow it felt like we went back in time ….. really agreat and rich experience.

Rafflesia which is the world's largestflower can grow up to one metre in diameter!!!!! When in bloom theflower gives off a nasty smell which attracts flies and otherinsects. It takes about nine months for the Rafflesia to mature, thenflowering for only 4 or 5 days before dying.... Unfortunately wenever got to see it in real life – only pictures and postcards. Ihave put a pic up on my face book for those who want to see.

We ate great food! Had such a lovelytime doing so many things, some I have not even mentioned! Then itwas back to the airport and finely back to Bluemoon to be greetedwith a great warm welcome, great food and lots of prezzies!!!

Then it was hard work getting Bluemoonprepared for being left for a few months … John flew out a week agoto Brisbane for a great job opportunity while the kids and Icompleted the looooooooooong list of preparing Bluemoon x Shadenetting completed, mooring lines completed, eye bolts in and pipe on… lots of blisters on the hands later!!!!! Fenders covered, hatchescovered, props bagged …. and a lot more …. Almost complete andnow we wait anxiously to head off to Brisbane to join John and startour new adventure. We will be heading back to Bluemoon every fewmonths as the flights are really affordable.

All our bags are packed … we ready togo …. will keep you updated when I can x

Please keep the letters rolling!! It isalways so welcoming to hear from you all and share in yourexperiences and going on's in your lives xx

Love always, John Jenny Justine Jessicaand Jonathan