Day 267 (Sat 31 Mar) - Adelaide

Brett had to work this morning so the three of us went round the town.

Whilst Jo had her hair done with Katka, Sarb amused himself by cruising round Adelaide looking for an internet cafe.

Sarb met up with the others at about 2pm where they were cosily lapping up wine.

Bought some cold weather gear for New Zealand then headed back to the house.

Brett soon turned up and then we all piled into the car and off to a BBQ that one of Katka's friends was putting on. Good fun.

Left Katka there whilst we tooled back to Brett's to watch Arsenal play Liverpool having a few beers whilst doing so.

Day 266 (Fri 30 Mar) - Adelaide

Headed off past K'roo island stopping off at Normansville.

Driving on we had to stop as someone had ordered a house from Amazon and it was being delivered. As we waited we looked over the fields.

Drove on and popped into a small tourist centre outside of Adelaide. Jo insisted this photo was taken even though it was blowing a gale and raining.

Drove into Adelaide and stopped off at Glenelg for a spot of soup and bread by the side of the road.

Met up with Brett, Sarb's friend from hockey at his workplace. Brett knocked off early and we were soon back at his house in the centre of Adelaide.

Before long his fiance Katka turned up. We all went out for a slap up meal at Gauchos where Sarah (another friend from hockey in London met us). Had loads of great food and booze.

Katka and Jo were feeling a little weary so excused themselves. Sarah, Sarb and Brett then went on and got well and truly smashed.

Day 265 (Thu 29 Mar) - Victor Harbour

Drove on through Kingston and through the Coorang National Park ( [1] ).

Stopped at Meningie for lunch and watched the pelicans ( [1], [2]).

Drove onto Wellington via the ferry ( [1], [2] ). Lovely town called Strathalbyn, although plagued by screeching cockatoos ( [1] ).

Stayed at Victor Harbour, where Jo insisted on having an ice cream.

Day 264 (Wed 28 Mar) - Robe

View of Port Cambell from a lookout as we left.

Continued to drive along the Great Ocean Road , stopping off at various viewpoints on the way ( the arch , Jo at London Bridge , the Grotto, the Bay of Martyrs ).

Stopped at Port Fairy, a very small harbour town but as we were walking around it started to rain. Drove on.

Had lunch in Portland. Travelling through a coupl of deserted towns, namely Port MacDonnell. Drove inland and stopped to admire the Blue Lake at Mount Gambier.

Headed back to the coast and stopped at the Lakeside Toursit Park in Robe. For a change, had a few drinks in a local pub.

Day 263 (Tue 27 Mar) - Port Campbell

Drove to Erskine Falls. Because of the drought they had virtually dried up.

On the way back to the main road we spotted an echidna by the road

View from Teddy's lookout.

View from Sarb at the Rodney control deck.

View from Picture of beach en route to the Kennet River.

Just past Kennet River we spotted some koalas in the trees ( [1], [2] ).

Beaches en route to Loch Ard ( [1], [2], [3] )

Views of Loch Ard ( [1], [2], [3])

Sarb wetting his feet in Port Campbell.

Sunset at the Twelve Apostles ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] )

Day 262 (Mon 26 Mar) - Cumberland River (nr Lorne)

Left the city and headed off to Torquay which is the start of the Great Ocean Road.

Stopped off at the tourist information centre and picked up loads of information.

Headed to Australia's most famous surfing beach. Jo at Bell Beach

Afterwards we drove on to Point Addis. Stunning views of the coast .(1)

(2)

Continued driving along on the Great Ocean Road

Stopped off at Airey's Inlet Lighthouse. Climbed up to the Lighthouse . Fabulous views from the lighthouse. Sarb with the beach at Airey's Inlet.

We then walked onto the beach. Lighthouse from beach

We continued to drive along the Great Ocean road. The views were amazing

We stopped at Big Hill and Sarb had a photo

View from Rodney and a sharp bend

Just after Lourne stopped at Cumberland River Holiday Park. Our site was on a pretty river. Jo relaxing by Cumberland River

View from our site

A friendly kookaburra

Jo chatting to George and Mildred, a friendly couple.

Day 261 (Sun 25 Mar) - Melbourne

The next morning it was a bit brighter. As we were leaving Wilsons Prom we stopped at Picnic Bay

Drove onto Phillip Island. Our lunch stop at Cowes where we had a great fish and chips

Decided to go to the Koala Conservation Centre on Phillip Island. ( [1], [2], [3], [4] )

Sleeping koala

Koala reversing down a tree.

Jo with koala having a rest in tree above her.

Even spotted an inquisitive wallaby!

Left Phillip Island and headed to Melbourne. Intended to find a campsite before we got there but suddenly found we were in the city centre. Fought our way through the trams and pedestrians and checked into the BIG4 Melbourne Ashley Gardens campsite.

Day 260 (Sat 24 Mar) - Wilsons Prom

It rained all night and it was quite chilly.

Stopped at a town called Foster - a real locals place. We are sure eveyone knew that we had arrived as we parked up but it was friendly enough.

Headed towards Wilsons Promontory National Park which is the southern most part of Australia. View as we speed along to Wilsons Prom.

The weather was pretty awful. Hard rain and powerful gusts.

There was nothing much we could do except sit in Rodney and admire the view. When the weather cleared sufficiently we could make out the small islands out to sea.

Waves pounding the coast.

Another brief break in the weather afforded great views

We'd decided to stay overnight in the national park. Later we headed back to find a site. Have a lovely dinner and whilst Jo was washing up the dishes Sarb heard a rustling round our campsite. Further investigation revealed a hungry wombat ( [1], [2])

Day 259 (Fri 23 Mar) - Port Albert

After driving for a hour we had a worrying moment. The fuel was on empty and there was no petrol station in sight. Fortunately after travelling on vapour for half an hour we will able to fill up. Another problem was that Rodney's engine oil light kept coming on as we went up and down hills. Checked the manual and this can happen so felt happier.

Fueled up, view from Rodney as we motor along

Again stunning scenry as we drive along.

Stopped off at Orbost and popped into the Tourist informaton office.

Whilst Jo was driving in the afternoon the engine oil was really bothering her as it was now staying on all the time. We popped into a Toyota garage in Yarram. A really friendly guy filled us up and we were off agin.

Stopped at a campsite in Port Albert. Went for a walk. Jo by the coast.

Chef Sarb with todays' culinary wonder.

Later it started to rain (very heavily). Despite this, Jo still couldn't convince Sarb to let her drive to the toilet block. She was not impressed as it was cold too!

Day 258 (Thu 22 Mar) - Eden

After devouring our crunchy nut cornflakes left Shoalhaven and rejoined the Princes Highway.

View of scenery as we prepare to break the sound barrier in Rodders

Stopped off at Batemans Bay to do a bit more food shopping. It's addictive.

Continued along the highway. View of the road through the 'roo bar and stunningsmall islands

Stopped for lunch at Corunna Lake part of Eurobodalla national park. Jo by the shores of a crystal clear lake.

Sarb handling the complex controls of Rodney.

Great scenery as we bowl along. ( [1], [2], [3] )

Went for a walk in Eden ( [1], [2] )

After sampling the local fish and chips we soppted a mysterious fin out close to shore. A dolphin or a shark??

As we got back to Rodney scary looking clouds appeared.. Headed off to bed.

Day 257 (Wed 21 Mar) - Sydney / Shoalhaven

Packed up gear and headed to the subway. Picked up our campervan in Hurstville and headed out of the city. On the way stopped off at a supermarket and had great fun. Well we've not been food shopping for over eight months.

Took the Princes Highway towards Melbourne. View out the back of Rodney, our campervan After a few hours driving stopped at Seven Mile Beach National Park and Jo made peanut butter sandwiches!

Continued driving along the beach and stopped at Shoalhaven Heads Tourist Park. Beautiful location between the beach and river.

After we'd parked up we went for a walk. Sarb on Seven Mile Beach

Jo relaxing with Rodney (she is not drinking tea)!

Day 256 (Tue 20 Mar) - Sydney

Back to Flight Centre - still no good news so took matters into our own hands. Headed off to Air Pacific and after a long morning, finally sorted out our round the world ticket. We will be coming home on the 26 June!!

Also had a bit of a headache renting a campervan but sorted that too. Had a few drinks and a kebab to celebrate.

Day 255 (Mon 19 Mar) - Sydney

Back to Flight centre - the saga continues.

Sarb spent morning in internet cafe and Jo went shopping.

Later we met up and went for a few drinks. It started to chuck it down, felt just like home so we popped into 'India down under' (trendy indian restaurant with weird indian chanting music) for dinner. We even managed to get Jo's favourite curry tipple. Sarb showing off the bottle of Mateus at the indian

Day 254 (Sun 18 Mar) - Sydney

Walked through the city on the way to the Botanical gardens.

Fountain in main square

Notice outside the Botanical Gardens (read the first para!)

Wandered around the beautiful gardens. Very relaxing.
Fruit bats having a snooze in the Botanical Gardens

Opera House and Bridge from Botanical Gardens

Jo in the Botanical Gardens with the CBD behind

Sarb with Opera House and Bridge background

The bench we sat on for hours!

As we left the gardens we spotted a Rainbow Lorikeet

Walked around to see the Harbour Bridge celebrations. Jo with Bridge behind her

Flypast by a QUANTAS 747 to celebrate the 75th Birthday of the Bridge

View of the Opera House from just under the Bridge

Having a few drinks with Rogers' brother Adrian!

After a few more drinks and a tasty Wagamamas headed back to our hotel.

Day 253 (Sat 17 Mar) - Sydney

Popped into Flight centre - bit of a problem with our tickets. Mumbai all over again.

Went shopping. Not very impressed with the shops. Jo was on a mission but bought nothing. Sarb bought a tripod and tested it out in our hotel room.

Opera House from our room (zoomed in we admit!)

In the evening we decided to try out the tripod around the city. Looking like professional photographers we hit the city.
Archibald Fountain

Photos of the Opera House ( [1], [2], [3] )

Sydney skyline

The Harbour Bridge

Hoped for a quite drink but Sydney has gone mad with St Patricks day. Lots of drunk people everywhere. It reminds Sarb of Newcastle.

Day 252 (Fri 16 Mar) - Sydney

HAVE DECIDED TO KEEP THE BLURB SHORT FOR AUSTRALIA. THE COST OF INTERNET USE IS PROHIBITIVE!

Arrived Sydney 9.35am local time (3 hours ahead of Malaysia). Van to Formula One hotel in Kings Cross. Slept until afternoon. Went to find Flight centre to sort out round the world ticket and some posh accommodation in Fiji.

Later walked into the city and saw Sydney Opera House (really impressive) and the Harbour Bridge. Tasty pizza at an italian called Zia Pina in the Rocks for dinner.

Day 251 (Thu 15 Mar) - Kuching / Kuala Lumpur

Packed our gear and walked through the quiet streets to the bus stop near the Post Office.

As we walked Sarb discovered that he still had the room key for the hotel so had to belt back to return it.

Waited for a few mins for our bus and were soon at the airport. Our flight left at 11.55am and we arrived at Kuala Lumpur at 1.20pm

Got a bus from the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) to the international terminal. Our flight was not till 10.40pm this evening so we had loads of time to kill.

Spent the time wandering round the spotless airport, having a bit of grub and watching an Indian film crew filming a scene involving about 50 people. Quite entertaining.

Checked in our bags at 7.30pm where we had a long chat to the friendly check-in chap. He gave us some good seats in the 747; ones near the back, where the tail tapers, and only four seats across. Took the shuttle train and into the swanky airside part of the terminal.

Had a few drinks and before we knew it we were boarding.

Both watched some movies and slept a little.

Day 250 (Wed 14 Mar) - Kuching

Went to the Bollywood cafe for breakfast. Walked on through Little India to the post office where we posted a load of cds and other stuff home.

Decided we wanted to go the cat museum so walked down near to the mosque to wait for a bus. Waited ages without any sign of a bus so decided to take a taxi.

The museum is located some way out of town and located in a space age building that also serves as municipal offices.

The museum itself was full of exhibits of a rather dubious nature. A particular section attempted to show the bond between a cat and its owner. Fine although having the ashes of your cremated cat mixed with ink and then having a tatoo of the said feline drawn on your calf, as one American lady did, is perhaps taking it too far.

Spent some time walking round and then went for a coke in the cafe. Had excellent views looking back towards Kuching.

Walked down to the bus stop where we waited ages in the heat for a bus. Finally one turned up and took us back to Kuching. Took a picture of the impressive temple as we walked past.

Jo relaxed during the afternoon whilst Sarb blogged. Before dinner we went for a little walk before heading to Patience to have some great Beef Rendang.

Day 249 (Tue 13 Mar) - Matang National Park

The morning brought us torrential rain! Had breakfast by which time the rain had eased off.

Went to the reception office to find out the best way to get to the nearby Matang National Park. We knew there was a walk from where we were that took us over the steep hills and onto Matang, but the weather looked quite ominous and we didn't fancy a 5 hour walk soaked.

When we asked the chap at the office about Matang he looked completely surprised. 'Matang' he mused, clearly this chap didn't get out much as Matang wasn't that far away. Finally he said that there was no public transport but if a minibus was passing we could flag it down. Cheers buddy!

Set off and decided to walk along the road towards Matang, stopping now and again to see if any minibuses were coming our way. They weren't! The weather was quite pleasant to walk in; a very light drizzle almost like a mist that kept us cool.

About 1.5 hours in a van pulled up alongside us traveling in the opposite direction. Two men inside asked us where we were going and when we told them they shook their heads in dismay and said that it would take ages. Hop in they said and we'll run you there! Great.

Climbed in and soon we were dropped off at the gates of the Matang Park. We offered them some money but they refused. The only thing they wanted was a name, a telephone number and a note saying we were from London. They looked really pleased when Sarb handed over a scrap of paper with the appropriate scribbles. Nice guys!

Walked to reception and hopefully asked where the cafe was. They had one which was a start but it was closed. We asked the girl at the counter if she would call our taxi driver from the previous day (luckily he'd given us his card) to pick us up at 2pm she thankfully readily obliged. Opted to do the simple walk round the park on the wooden walkway.

Very slippery path as we pootled round. Saw a beautiful bearcat in a cage and some sun bears. One of the sun bears seemed to be in a right strop as it repeatedly tried to have a fight with any other bear that came near to him. The others seemed to be getting on quite happily.

Saw a lone orang in an enclosure that also housed some antelope. Looked quite a sad creature as he walked round on the ground. He finally spotted us and in the curious gait of orangs soon had soon positioned himself at eye level with us sitting on a rung of a climbing frame. He looked at us in a thoughtful manner and we likewise. Quite a beautiful moment marred only by the fact that during this exchange he had a massive bowel movement.

Walked back round to reception where we had to wait for about an hour before our driver turned up. We met an Ozzie couple who had decided to camp in Matang for a few days. We thought we had it bad but these poor guys had got soaked in the morning, there was no food in the local shops and they, for some reason were staying for another night! Jo dug around in her bags and handed them our biscuits and water as their need was clearly greater than ours.

Our car appeared driven by two teenagers. Jo suspected that the driver was probably the student son of the taxi driver pressed into last minute service. Friendly enough.

Soon we were in Kuching and finished off some stuff on the Internet.

Had dinner at John's Place, round the corner from the hotel. Pretty ropey food.

Day 248 (Mon 12 Mar) - Kubah National Park

Packed for an overnight stay at Kubah National Park, leaving our main packs at the Mandarin in Kuching.

Got a taxi to take us the 35km to the park as there is no reliable public transport. As we traveled to Kubah we noticed that the scenery looked remarkably like our journey to Bako a few days before. It was only when the driver triumphantly swept into the car park and said 'Bako!' that we realised where the muppet had taken us. When we explained where we wanted to go he looked pretty embarrassed and drove us to Kubah double quick.

When we got to the reception office the staff (three young girls) seemed totally confused as to how to deal with a couple of tourists that wanted to stay the night. After much shuffling of folders, seemingly randomly filling out forms, we were finally given a room. We offhandedly asked where the on site cafe/shop was. Slightly taken aback as they said there was none and that the nearest shop was some 40minutes away on foot. Since we had no food or water this posed a slight issue.

Decided to dump our bags before deciding what to do. We followed a ranger who, overhearing the conversation about the shop, said that there were plenty of rangers around who would be happy to give us a lift. Great we thought.

Our digs were really good. We basically had a whole house to ourselves complete with dining area, lounge and kitchen. Our bedroom was pretty neat and tidy too.

Walked back to the reception office, past a group of about 8 rangers busy preparing themselves a BBQ, and asked the girl there if she could find someone to whizz us down to the shops. She dutifully used her walkie talkie and after a long conversation in Malay relayed to us that noone could be found! Like there were about 8 rangers about 100 yards away!!! Clearly a case of the Walkie-Talkie says no. Decided to walk.

Flaming hot as we walked on the grass verge of a road that although had little traffic what it did have was moving fast. This was brought home to us as we walked round a corner and saw a car that had obviously skidded out of control and ended up in a ditch. The windscreen was cracked and a dazed girl sat in the passenger seat. A man was talking to her and also to someone on his mobile. Must have happened in the last hour. They seemed to have the situation under control so we motored on.

Very hot as we finally made it to a small shop. Bought some noodles, tins of curry and other bits and pieces. Walked back and stopped at a tiny cafe for some dodgy chicken noodles.

Finally made it back to Kubah knackered. Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing as the only walks around Kubah involving going up steep inclines and, quite frankly, we were bushed.

We cooked the food we bought and although it did look like a dog had been at it, it was actually quite tasty. Luckily we had had the foresight of bringing a bottle of wine with us!

Jo slept rather fitfully as she kept on hearing noises around the house, as if someone was walking round. Sarb was not too happy about being sent out into the void to investigate. However armed with a small Swiss Army knife and a camera tripod he felt he was well able to cope with any eventuality.

Day 247 (Sun 11 Mar) - Bako National Park / Kuching

Decided to head back to Kuching as soon as we could. After brekky we checked out and walked down to the jetty.

Quickly found a boatman to take us back to Bako.

At Bako we waited around for about half an hour then got on a bus that pulled into an overcast Kuching about an hour later.

Walked back to the Mandarin hotel and unpacked our gear.

Craving junk food again we had a McD's lunch then spent most of the afternoon blogging.

Went for dinner, again, at Patience.

Day 246 (Sat 10 Mar) - Bako National Park

Had planned to go on a long walk that would take in a waterfall. However the heavens opened and it RAINED ( [1], [2] )!

It rained for quite some time and when it finally let up at about 1pm we decided to give the walk a miss on account of how slippery parts of the walk were yesterday. They would only be much, much worse today.

Headed off to the mangrove trees with our journals ( [1], [2] ).

Headed back to our rooms, passing a little pigster, and packed our gear ready to leave t'row.

Went out to watch the beautiful sunset ( [1], [2] ) then drank our last bottle of wine and hit the sack.

Day 245 (Fri 9 Mar) - Bako National Park

Up early to tackle the long circular Lintang walk. The Swedes had done this walk the day before and suggested that we go in an anti clockwise direction as this was the hardest section of the walk.

Set off on the raised platforms, passing a hungry wild pig en route (these guys wander casually through the site), at the back of the camp and into the forest. We soon left the wooden pathway and were walking on a twisted carpet of tree roots. Quite tricky underfoot.

As we walked Jo spotted what looked like a large shell moving just off the path. Got close to it and saw that it was a grey land crab. Sarb desperately tried to get a photo but unfortunately the camera's auto focus was throwing a tantrum and not playing.

Very, very humid and hot as we climbed up. Stopped at a lookout point for a breather.

Carried on walking through the forest spotting a few beautiful butterflies as we went. The higher we went the landscape began to change.

The tangled roots of the trees had given way to chalky paths and the dense and large trees had become more shrub like. We even saw pitcher plants hanging off trees and clumped together just off the paths.

At places we crossed what must have been lava flows. The grey hard rock was twisted into fluid shapes and pools of reddish brown water were fed by like coloured streams. Very hot now as no trees and the sun was beating down on us.

Luckily the path began to descend and we were once again under the shelter of the forest. We scrambled up to a dodgy looking viewpoint for a good view of the shore.

We both remarked that the walk was not exactly easy. Very steep and slippery in parts.

Soon we were back on the wooden pathways that led us to the raised platforms in the mangroves. As we walked along we noticed people taking photos of the trees.

A troop of probosic monkeys were in the trees feeding. Great to see them so close! Even more interesting to see them jump down from the trees and run across the soft mud; very graceful ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] ).

Walked back to the canteen where an American guy asked Sarb if he'd seen the adult Wagler pit viper. Sard said no he hadn't so was led to a tree just next to the canteen. After a bit of looking around they spotted it. Pretty impressive creature.

Had dinner in the canteen then walked back to the mangroves. Really amazing to see the tide come in flooding the mangroves. Excellent sunset through the mangroves as well. Headed back and relaxed back in our rooms. An excellent day.

Day 244 (Thu 8 Mar) - Bako National Park

Got up and walked to the bus stop, skipping breakfast 7.45am. We were meant to meet the others at 8am but no sign of them as the bus left at 8.20am.

After about 45mins we were at Bako. As we entered the ticket office we saw Little Brett and his mate, Hans. Apparently they had sat on the bus at 7.30am and after a few minutes the bus just took off. We had been told that the buses tend to come and go when they feel like it!

Got our tickets and shared our transfer boat with them.

Soon all four of us were off on a boat that bounced us around for a good 20minutes. Our butts were hurting by the time we got off.

Got off and walked onto the wooden walkways towards the reception area. As we walked we noticed some people taking photos of a small bush. A Bako guide standing there when asked what was going on showed us a beautiful juvenile Waglers pit viper. Sarb is getting quite fond of snakes which is worrying! This species of snake is typically unaggressive. Lucky as we had cameras pointing at it from a foot away!

Walked onto reception where we dumped our bags. Cannot check into our rooms until 2pm so we had a few hours to kill.

Jo had a bite to eat in the small canteen. Then we headed off for a short walk, past the jetty, onto the raised network of walkways over the mangroves.

Wandered back and went into the visitors centre. Very well done with loads of information. Met two guides that were very friendly. They offered to show us an even smaller pit viper nearby. We walked over and found a small bright green Waglers pit viper at the base of a tree.

Got a map from reception and decided to do a short walk so that we could return, unpack and work out what we wanted to do. The walk was marked as a mere 30minutes.

Set off expecting an unenergetic walk. Unfortunately, the walk consisted of mainly negotiating rickety wooden stairs going up at a very steep angle. When not using the stairs we would be on a steep narrow path. Passed through dense forest and reached a point where huge boulders were just littered around. At the base of these boulders we could see caves and dark openings. Gave them a wide berth.

Got to the top where we had a great view of the shoreline. The tide had gone out a long, long way since when we arrived. Sat and marvelled at the view.

Walked back down and sat in the canteen for a while. Eventually we got the key. Comfortable room with 3 single beds and an adjoining kitchen and bathroom area.

Rested for a while before heading off to the mangroves for sunset.

Had dinner at the canteen with Brett and Hans. By this time the Swedes had also turned up; they had overslept!

We both slept very well especially after a bottle of wine. Jo had thought to buy a couple of bottles of wine from the mainland with her!

Day 243 (Wed 7 Mar) - Gunang Gading National Park

Up at 6.30am and finished packing our bags.

Caught a taxi to the Express bus station and bought our tickets. Sarb promptly fell asleep. A few hours later we pulled into Lundu, the nearest town to the park.

Got off the bus and a couple of hawk faced taxi drivers hassled us and the other travelers for a fare. We shared a taxi with an old European couple. Our dodgy looking taxi driver spent ages trying to start his taxi with no luck. When he did finally manage to get it going he promptly reversed and knocked over a parked motorbike behind him. Not a good start!

We eventually set off and got to the park entrance. Paid our entrance fee and were told that two Rafflesia plants were in flower. One by the waterfall Number 7 and the other near the park entrance.

Decided to walk to the waterfall first as if we failed to spot the plant here we would still have the opportunity of seeing it at the park entrance.

Very, very hot as we set off. Still suffering from colds so it was doubly hard. We weren't too sure if it was our noses running or it was sweat pouring down!

Eventually we made it to waterfall Number 7. Not a massive waterfall but the formation of the rocks and the clear water was a welcome sight. Could not find any sign of the flower anywhere.

Whilst we sat there we got chatting to a German bloke that looked the spitting image of Brett, a friend we are going to meet in Australia. His name we think was Michael but we called him, amongst ourselves, Little Brett.

Little Brett headed off whilst we sat by the rock pools ( [1], [2] ). Set off back to the HQ where we bumped into Little Brett again. He had been looking for the Rafflesia plant said to be near the HQ for about half an hour with no luck. The staff were not being too helpful possibly because they wanted to be hired as a guide, for 20 Ringitts!

After crashing round for a while further we found a very small path. Decided to head down it and soon found a ranger guarding the rafflesia Flower!

It was not as big as we expected and also only gave off a very faint smell of rotting meat as they are won't to do. Still pretty amazing.

Left Little Brett to meet up with his Dutch buddy whilst we walked it back to the town of Lundu.

Got into Lundu where we had a few cold ones and also managed to get our phone card working. Apparently we had to dial a different connecting number (not on any of the instructions!). To test it Sarb phoned his Dad who sounded suitably groggy!

At the bus stop we met little Brett and his buddy and a Swedish couple. We were all going to Bako the next day so decided that if we all met up and travelled together we could split the cost of the boat from Bako to the National Park.

We got dropped off on the outskirts of Kuching. The Swedes stayed on the bus whilst our little group of four jumped into a taxi to take us to our hotel. Said goodbye to Little Brett and friend and dumped our gear in our hotel.

Headed off for a pizza that evening.

Day 242 (Tue 6 Mar) - Kuching

Up and headed off to the Tourist Info office for Sarawak. A bit confusing this as there are seperate tourist offices; a federate one, one for Sarawak and one it seems for Kuching.

En route we found the Bollywood cafe where we had an ace breakfast. The owners were really friendly even going so far as to assert that Sarb looked like a particular Bollywood star.

We went to the Kuching one that was brilliant. Very helpful and informative. Booked for 3 nights at the Bako National Park and 1 night at the Kubah/Matang National Park.

Grabbed a walking tour map of Kuching and set off ( [1], [2], [3], [4] ). We'd covered most of it already as we had been walking around although the areas around the museums was new.

Went to the Sarawak museum. It's natural history exhibits were excellent. The anthropology exhibits were also very good. The museum also housed a small aquarium tucked onto the back of the building.

Walked round the small neat gardens for a while then crossed via the footbridge to the Islamic museum. Not really of great interest here; we reckon that it is mainly for scholars as opposed to the great unwashed. From here we went to the ornate Sikh temple and the colourful mosque nearby.

Walked back via India Street and as we were hungry stopped off at the Bollywood cafe. The friendly woman owner cooked us fresh samosas.

Got back to the hotel where we showered and relaxed. Done a little blogging before heading off for dinner at Patience.

Had some ace pasta and garlic bread with a bottle of vino. A bit extravagent but we've been feeling a trifle under the weather lately.

Packed our gear for an early morning start t'row.

Day 241 (Mon 5 Mar) - Kuching

Had a great nights sleep and had a great shower - it's hot and powerful.

Walked down along the waterfront and went to an indian cafe for breakfast.

Popped into the Tourist office and were given some really unhelpful information.

Basically told that we need to go to the tour agents located across the road who could organise trips to the local national parks. We were a bit disappointed and not sure what to do next as there was no way we could afford the tour agents prices.

Headed to the internet cafe and spent the next 7 hours updating the blog and surfing the internet.

Later we tried to find somewhere nice to eat as we were feeling pretty sorry for ourselves. Ended up at a nice trendy modern restaurant caled Patience Daily. Sarb had fish and chips and Jo had a seafood pancake, washed down with a tasty bottle of wine.

Day 240 (Sun 4 Mar) - Kota Kinabalu / Kuching

Up early, left our lodgings at 6.45am and caught a local bus to the airport.

As usual, we were there far too early, checked in and went through to the departure gates. There were scales to check the weight of hand luggage so we jumped on to see if we had lost any weight.

Had a bit of breakfast and boarded the Airasia flight to Kuching which left at 8.50am. There were very few passengers and the plane was very cold so we were glad when we arrived in Kuching at 10.15am.

Collected our bags and headed out of the airport building. Were shocked to discover it was chucking it down. We waited some time for a bus but it didn't arrive so we ended up getting a taxi.

We hadn't booked any accommodation but we knew there were some cheapy hotels in the Greenhill road area so we asked to be taken there. Our taxi driver got a bit confused and ended up dropping us outside a posh hotel some 5 minutes away from where we wanted to be. It was raining even heavier now but we needed to find somewhere to stay.

During our travels we've established that Sarb is not always the most reliable person to choose accommodation (basically as long as it's got a bed he's happy) so Jo, leaving the bags with Sarb, went off in the rain to find somewhere.

A soggy Jo returned about 15 minutes later and we both braved the rain to check into the Mandarin Hotel. It was only Rm 50 for an ensuite room and they had promised hot showers.

Dumped our bags and as the rain had eased off, headed out to explore Kuching.

Kuching is the city of cats, so as we walked along the waterfront we weren't surprised to see statues of cats dotted around.

Ended up having a bite to eat in MacDonalds - think we are now a bit addicted to fast food.

Headed back to our room and whilst Jo chilled, Sarb headed off to find an internet cafe.

Later we went out for a drink and popped into a busy cheapy chinese for dinner.

Day 239 (Sat 3 Mar) - Kota Kinabalu / Sapi Island

Had an early breakfast and got together our beach stuff ready to spend the day at a nearby island. Walked to the ferry terminal and took a speed boat to the island of Sapi just across the bay.

By 10.30am we were on Sapi, a beautiful, paradise island. We'd rented snorkeling equipment from the ferry terminal so as soon as we'd dumped our bags we headed into the crystal blue waters. We saw some amazing fish. Unfortunately Jo's mask fell apart only after half an hour so for the remainder of the day we had to share one snorkel.

When we weren't snorkeling we were lazing on the beach under the trees - this is what life is about!

At lunchtime Sarb popped to get a beer from the shop. He came racing back, beer in hand, and told Jo that he had just seen an amazing sight. Jo joined him and went to see what all the fuss was about. It was a massive monitor lizard just by the beach amongst the trees. It was at leat 5ft long and it's whipping tongue looked pretty scary so we didn't get too close.

Sarb spent most of the afternoon snorkellng and trying out the underwater camera ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [5] ).

At 4pm we headed back to the mainland. We were starving after all the fresh air so stopped off for a Burger King on the way back to our lodgings.
Chilled for the evening.

Day 238 (Fri 2 Mar) - Kota Kinabalu

Up at a leisurely time for breakfast downstairs.

Headed off to the internet cafe and blogged for most of the day.

For lunch we surprised ourselves by varying our diet. We went for a KFC!

Went back to the cafe, blogged and burnt some cds.

Had a drink at the waterfront and headed back to our lodgings.

Relaxed for a bit then we went for a drink at Yesteryears.

Day 237 (Thu 1 Mar) - Mount Kinabalu / Kota Kinabalu

Up very early to see the mists slowly start to lift from the valley below.

Packed our gear and walked to the Bayu cafe for breakfast. We passed the smallholding where the dogs seemed to call home and were a little upset to see on the road outside a puddle of blood that had been cleared off the road. No sign of the dogs but it looks like at least one of them probably got hit by a vehicle during the night.

Had a bite to eat and then sat waiting for a bus in the sunshine for about 40mins. A bus soon pulled up and we hopped on. A couple of hours later we pulled into Sungai Inmaman bus station on the outskirts of KK.

We looked round for a shuttle bus but a man wearing a bus conductor's coat spotted us first and ushered us over to a small mini bus waiting nearby. Once on he disappeared. He reappeared a few minutes later collected fares and then removing his coat and pulling on his sunnies settled into the driving seat. A real multi-tasker!

Our talented bus driver hadn't quite finished as no sooner were we off then he started twiddling with something near the dashboard. The Eagles started playing and all seemed well in his world. We even had a bit of Guns n Roses!

Pulled into KK and walked to our lodgings that we'd stayed in on our previous visit.

Checked in then wandered over to an internet cafe. We did a few jobs then had a whacking McD's. Our craving for fast food is not yet at an end.

Walked to the waterfront for a drink and then headed back to our lodgings.

Jo chilled out whilst Sarb took his notes and sat in the Yesteryears bar a few doors down.

Met up a few hours later and decided that we fancied a pizza. Headed over to the expensive looking pizza place round the corner. It was indeed expensive but the food was good and so was the vino.

Tottered back to the Travelers Lodge quite content.