21.02.2015 Bunker Bay Western Australia

Yes, I know, this has nothing to do with the adventures of Tigress Too but it did happen while we were cruising so it fills in the gap of what we have been doing for the last month. It was also a significant event in our life and so I think its worthy of being on our blog.

After 6 happy years together Ben and Kate tied the knot. We now have another Mrs Davis in the family, welcome Kate.

From the moment we touched down at Perth airport, 10 days before the big day, to the day we left, a month later, we never seemed to have time to sit down & relax. What an amazing trip home this one was.

Lots to do in the week leading up to the wedding. First off was the Hen & Bucks DAY. It seems that you now spend most of the day celebrating these occasions. For the bucks they set out at 9.30 am, paintballing was the first stop, then a quick race around the go kart track before heading back to Chris’s house for a BBQ lunch, dip in the pool, a game of beer ping pong and “lets dress the groom up for his night out”! Then they were off for a 2 hour harbour cruise and onto Little Creatures and Fremantle for the night. I’m exhausted just writing about it. Needless to say there were some very sore heads for the next day or 3 but Mrs Doubtfire assures me she had a great time and felt quite fine the following day!

As for us ladies we had a much more relaxing day. First off was the day spa where the bride to be and her entourage were pampered from head to foot. A little champagne and some nice little cakes to nibble on while we were sat back & chatted. Then back to the hotel for more champas and games while we changed and then headed out for dinner.  We never got to go clubbing as planned but retired back to the hotel for more champas and more games. I was quietly relieved about missing out on the night club, as by that time I was quite exhausted.

The next few days while I was busy with Kate, Jaki, Molly and  Sage, doing last minute preparations for the wedding, Ben and his Dad were talking through renovations & repairs to the house that Jerry had volunteered to do while they were on honeymoon.  So much for our relaxing holiday!

Thursday, Robert, my brother, and family arrived from Brisbane and we loaded up 3 cars with 3 families and headed south for a 5 day weekend. I was so excited and happy they were able to join us. We had booked a huge house at Eagle Bay overlooking the ocean. It had more rooms than we could use and enough space that we could all just laze around without being on top of each other. On the way down we stopped off at Bunbury Farmers Market to load up on food for the weekend. 10 people all loading one trolley meant that there was no way anyone was sticking to the shopping list I had spent days preparing!!

Our house was just 5 mins walk to the beach and a very short drive to the wedding venue. I had forgotten just how clean and pristine our beaches and water are here in WA, oh and not a soul to be seen for miles. It made us realise just how lucky we are to call WA our home.

Friday, we ate a little, relaxed a little, swam a little, ate a little bit more and then went out to dinner to meet up with those just arriving for the wedding. Ben’s best mates from school were there, some had travelled from Brisbane and Sydney. They had all grown some since we last saw them! By coincidence they had booked the house next door to us!

Saturday, by now my emotions had well & truly kicked in and I was feeling so happy for B&K, so emotional  for me “ losing” my son and so nervous it would all go as planned. Ben stayed with us on Friday night and we were all up bright and early the next morning. The cousins all played cards, why not, its only a wedding.

 

While Robert cooked up another storm in the kitchen, got to have a good breakfast on the day of your wedding. Chris was in charge of the coffee machine, thank goodness he took that down with us, while I just seemed to flitter from one place to the next not doing much but telling everyone what they should be doing!! Hey, it was my son’s wedding and I was a little anxious.

After breakfast , it was only 8.30, remember we were up early. The boys decided a swim was in order so off they went to the beach.

The girls went into town to do “girly” things and poor Chris drew the short straw and stayed back to iron 10 shirts! Someone had to do it and I was far too busy! Thanks again Chris

The groomsmen arrived and it was time for more food, lunch this time, a boy needs a good lunch before his wedding. Robert excelled again and lunch for 14 was served.

Then the fun began as time was ticking on and we had to be at the beach by 2.30, or else!

What a wonderful day it was, so many words pop into my mind to describe the day, it was just so perfect, so romantic and so Ben & Kate.

More photos of the day at the end of this blog. 

The newly weds took off on a 2 week honeymoon and we looked after their house and 3 dogs. It was all go as Jerry had volunteered to build a pantry workbench and shelves.

We had to remove doors & windows to fit the framework in place. Jerry lived up to his reputation once again “Jerry just fits – perfectly” The end results were worth the effort, Kate and Ben were very happy.

The dogs Royce, Bella & Lilly had to be walked  which gave us a great excuse to go to the beach each day. Then there was Kate’s Sproutly business to keep going which Jaki (Kate’s Mum) and myself enjoyed doing together.

 

As tiring as the 2 weeks were we really enjoyed our time at their house and doing a few jobs around the place to help them out. The last week we spent catching up with friends for coffees, lunches and dinners aswell as shopping for the boat.

Now here we are back onboard Tigress Too, feeling a little “flat” I must admit. We are currently sailing down the coast to Senibong Marina in Johor Baru and looking forward to our trip up the East Coast of Malaysia.

Here are some more photos of that special day, in no special order, just in case you haven’t already seen enough! Not all mine, I’ve been collecting from various FB posts, hope you don’t mind!

 

 

 

2015 Time to Head South

 

Christmas & New Year were spent at Rebak Marina , Langkawi. We had a great time there last year and had arranged to regroup again this year with friends we had met. Unfortunately the weather was not so good, the season seems to be different this year and we had rain right through the festive season. A bit of rain is ok, it helps cool the boat down but too much rain and it does hamper the socializing around the wonderful pool at Rebak, it also cools the pool water down and sitting at the pool bar drinking a cocktail or two is not quite the same. On quite a few occasions the pool bar was closed due to the weather and lack of people in the pool. But that had it’s benefits as it meant I could swim laps freely without bumping into anyone. Despite the inclement weather still managed to enjoy ourselves and the resort put on a lovely Christmas lunch smorgasboard, alas no roast potatoes , but there was plenty of variety and more than enough to eat and drink.

New years eve  the resort was charging myr 550 for their buffet, far too expensive for us yachties and so the management put on a smorgasbord  at the yachties restaurant for myr 85. Much more affordable. A group of yachtie muso’s got together and we had a great sing along after the meal and then went down to the beach to see the new year in and watch the fireworks and lanterns in the the sky sent up from Cenang beach.

Our fitness is definitely disappearing since arriving in Asia. Unlike the sailing in WA where there is always wind and you use a lot of energy sailing the boat. Up here the lack of wind means we either have a very gentle sail or we motor, both of which require very little effort on our behalf.  The heat and the humidity also mean a walk ashore, which we do a lot of, turns into a stroll and as for riding our fold up bikes, too much effort required and anyway the local traffic frightens me. One reason we like Rebak so much is the use of the pool for swimming laps (and the odd cocktail at the pool bar!), yoga  with a group of other ladies and  early morning walks. There is always something to do.

We met Misty & Peter from UK who have been at Rebak for a number of years. They are not young, I think late sixties & seventies. One year at Rebak when walking they discovered a very overgrown path that once went around the island. They decided for their own fitness that they would clear this path and for 4 months everyday they would slowly hack their way through the jungle clearing the path. No mean feat in the heat and humidity, not to mention the snakes and monkeys they would have come across. The path was literally overgrown completely and they have done an amazing job of clearing it to about 2 metres wide. They still walk everyday with machete type tools not only to keep fit but to keep the path cleared. The island/resort management do not help in anyway but they do charge resort guests myr100 for a guided walk! Jerry and I walked the path quite often while there, about 45 mins, it was a wonderful way to start the day, so peaceful, sometimes cool and always made us puff!

 

So here we are in 2015 and we are now tied up at Admiral Marina, Port Dickson where we will leave the boat to go home for Ben & Kate’s wedding. The sail down here was very pleasant. We stopped off at Penang for a few days which is always very pleasant. So much to see and so much choice of lovely food.

This time we were very lucky to have Otters around the boat. They had just had babies and would keep us awake at night with their chattering trying to encourage the babies into the water.

Next stop was Lumut where we anchored outside the Lumut Yacht Club which is up the Dinding River. It is a beautiful old yacht club but in desperate need of some maintenance and repair as too are the jetties. Even the billiard table was “closed for maintenance” A sign we see often in our travels up here.

We spent a few days here exploring Lumut & then moved on a few miles into Pangkor Marina which is on a man made island and a great place to slip the boat and get work done if you need it. Our friends Cecillie & John were there having a major refit on their boat Delphian.

We left the boat here overnight while we went over to Pangkor Island to celebrate our 30th Wedding anniversary! We were very adventurous and hired a scooter to get around the island. We have often thought about hiring a scooter in other towns we have visited as many yachties use these as a cheap form of transport  but as I have never been on a scooter before and Jerry has never had a pillion passenger we have always chickened out and hired a car. Well we decided that we would take the risk on Pangkor, not much traffic and only one road around the island so all very civilised. We were a bit wobbly and slow at first but a few “hurry up” toots from the locals soon had Jerry zooming along. It was good fun!

Our hotel was not the best we have stayed in and the only time I have written a review on the booking website. If we had wanted luxury I suppose we should have gone to the private island of Pangkor Laut but our budget doesn’t allow for such luxury.

Continuing our journey south we had chosen to leave Pangkor just as some whopping king tides were happening, so we fought them all the way to Port Dickson. We had wind in the mornings and tide with us which was great but by 2pm the wind dropped and the tide was against us. At one stage we were down to 2 knots and that was with the engine on!

Crossing over the shipping lane to anchor outside of Port Klang was busy on the way up so we knew what to expect this time. What we didn’t realise was that the ship we thought was on anchor and that we chose to cross in front of by about 100m was in fact a dredge that was travelling (luckily) at a very slow speed!! When I told our friend Peter this story today he said that the name given to yachties by the captain of ships up here is WAFI’s – wind assisted flipping idiots or words to that effect! I shall check the AIS more closely next time!

Next stop brings us here to Port Dickson. We are tied up in Admiral Marina which is attached to a resort. We have a few jobs to do on the boat while here and luckily there is a pool for us to use when it all gets too much. There are local shops about 15mins walk away, a great supermarket with good vegies and some fresh seafood, a hardware store, a massage shop and a few good restaurants. So all very civilised. Jerry has just been shopping on his own in the hunt for bread and is very pleased with his purchases of 2 fishing net lights, we use these for anchoring at night as the locals know what they are, (we now have 6, Jerry does like to have spares!) and a large syphon pump all for $14.50. That’s his Sunday trip to Bunnings, Malaysia style and he’s happy!

No matter where we go we seem to be constantly bumping into people we know. Yesterday we met the skipper of a very nice Catamaran here at the marina. Jerry knew Paul  from years ago in Fremantle when he was refitting a yacht. Paul was only young and was the gofer, now he is the skipper of this mean machine. It’s a small world. Gizmo is laid up here after a lightening strike. It has a carbon mast and rigging which now need xraying and lots of electronic equipment replacing. This is the 2nd catamaran with carbon mast etc we have met in the last 2 months and both have been hit by lightening.

I booked our tickets on the KTMB Intranet to take the train to Kuala Lumpur next week. Apart from being very cheap $9.00 for the 2 of us, train or bus travel is always our preferred way to travel up here as you get to mix with the locals and it is always an interesting experience. Unfortunately when I went to print the tickets off at the marina office my booking had disappeared. A glitch in the intranet system had sent our booking off into cyberspace. They will refund my money but now the booking site shows that the train is full. So we either go to the train station, an hours journey by bus and see if there are spare seats, or take a taxi from the marina straight to KL. I think with luggage etc we will opt for taxi.

We have 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur to explore the city before flying home for a month. Am I excited….YES I AM!!