2014–Happy New Year!

As we roll into a new year we discuss with other yachties  sailing plans for the next year and where we will be next Christmas. It  seems that nobody is in any rush to go anywhere in particular as having arrived in Langkawi the general feeling is  this is a good  place to take a breath, enjoy the surrounds and spend some time just relaxing.

Now I can hear you all laughing at “relaxing” and thinking this is what we have been doing since we moved on-board, but it’s not all been easy sailing and we seem to have been constantly on the move to get to the next anchorage. So for now we are “relaxing” and just enjoying being on the boat or in a hammock as this picture shows!

Christmas was good. We had a week in Rebak Marina as planned and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We made full use of all the facilities the resort had to offer, lots of socialising ,riding our bikes around the island, reading & relaxing.  Christmas Eve the yachties all got together for drinks & nibblies and Christmas carols. I happened to be one of the few who new all the words to every song so I was up front conducting and singing at the top of my voice! Much to Jerry’s horror but it was ok ‘cos everyone had drunk a fair few drinks by then so no one really noticed my very bad singing voice!



We had Christmas lunch at the resort. A huge smorgasbord of all kinds of food. A lot of Malaysian dishes but there was the traditional turkey with cranberry sauce and roast vegies, no yorkshire pudding though ! Delicious assortment of sweets to choose from, free champagne and good company.

After lunch we retired to the pool area for a cooling dip & a snooze then it was time for sundowners at the beach bar.

New years eve we anchored TToo off Pantai Cenang beach and found ourselves a table at a beach bar serving very cheap drinks & some nice food. We had a lovely evening and at midnight the restaurants lit bonfires along the beach, set off fireworks and  just about everybody wrote a message on a Chinese lantern, lit it and sent it off into the sky. It was a beautiful sight.
    



Surprisingly enough we both awoke new years day with clear heads but my feet were killing me! So I thought I would go ashore and have a reflexology foot massage. What better way to start the New Year.

We are now anchored back at Kuah town, it’s easy walking distance to all the shops for supplies and boat bits, plus cheap restaurants. We have a few things to sort out like internet…again, and then we will find a nice little quiet bay to anchor in and maybe do some painting touch ups.
News from home is always welcome, so please when you get a moment drop us an email and tell us what your Christmas was like and what plans you have for new year or just to say hello, we would love to hear from you.

L A N G K A W I ….we have arrived!!!

 

We are finally at our goal destination and boy it feels good!

To celebrate our arrival the Harbour Master put on a fantastic laser light and  fireworks show and we celebrated by breaking out the BBQ and  fixing in position at long last.

 

Its been 220 days since we left Fremantle

We have travelled 3184.50 nautical miles

Used 443 litres of diesel

Spent $ *@#+^% getting here…far too much!

We have laughed and cried,  panicked  and relaxed, and tested ourselves. But on the whole it’s been a good trip this far.

Christmas will be spent at Rebak Marina which is attached to Rebak Island Resort http://www.rebakmarina.com/

So for the Christmas week we will enjoy all the luxuries the resort has to offer, Christmas lunch at the restaurant with the other yachties, some good happy hours and lots of catching up with people we have met along the way. We found a  Cold Storage supermarket in Penang that catered for a western style Christmas so  we have a fridge full of Christmas goodies and treats to chomp our way through. Better still is that Langkawi is a duty free port so the liquor cabinet is full again. It’s looking like it will be a good week despite the fact we are missing friends and family at this time of year.

We have has a good time travelling the west coast of Malaysia despite the lack of wind until our sail from Penang to Langkawi when we had a good 18/20 knots on the nose which shook all the cobwebs out of the boat and us.

As we approached Penang a rather large bridge appeared that was not marked on charts or on Navionics or in any info we had collected. My friend Mr Google helped out and we were safe to pass underneath the 30m clearance. If I remember rightly it is the largest span bridge built in SE Asia at 24km long. It really is quite spectacular, once you realise its ok to pass under !

We anchored off Georgetown in the “junk anchorage” for a few days. From here we explored the old town, went up to the top of Penang Hill by the funicular railway and enjoyed some local food. To access town from the anchorage we took the dinghy to Chews jetty & tied up there. There was always something to see as we walked along this busy jetty that families have made their homes for many years. The smells were also quite…different… my nose certainly suffered a little on these walks!! There is still a lot for us to explore here but here are a few pictures from around town….

The Blacksmith, how he works in the heat up here is amazing.

Some old bikes

In between selling his pork chops this man was fanned by his daughter (?) and even that he found very tiring…it’s the heat that does it!

Some wonderful old houses and street art on every corner

Tying up the dinghy and hoping it will be there when we return

The walk along the jetty and some very grand stainless work

Enjoying coffee and a chat. Check out the haircut!

We the motored round to the very new Straits Quay Marina for a couple of days. We needed fresh water and the boat needed a hose down. This was a great place to stop. Clean, good security, washing machine. It’s a short bus ride into town, or a bike ride. Tesco is 5 mins walk and Cold Storage 15 mins walk. We will go back there as we still have more exploring and shopping to do in Penang.

We left there early morning prepared for a long day of motoring the 55nm to Langkawi but we were nicely surprised to have a breeze despite it being slightly on the nose.

I think we have decided that for now we will make our base between Penang, Langkawi and Thailand, by that I mean for the next year. There is so much to see and do up here, by sea and by land and we are in no rush to head off anywhere in particular, unless of course someone comes up with a better plan.

We are looking forward to Ben & Kate arriving mid January and there is a chance that my dear friend Carey maybe venturing out to Thailand in May so that on its own is a very good reason to hang around.

We spotted this rather large monitor lizard swimming around the marina in Kuah. I guess we won’t be jumping in the water for a swim here.

To all our yachtie followers we hope in 2014  the winds will always be from behind,  blow you gently along to discover wonderful new anchorages and meet interesting new friends. Sail safely.

To all our land followers we hope 2014 brings you joy and happiness in everything you do. Live, love, laugh.

I’ll be posting Christmas pictures from Rebak soon.

***MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE ***

Malacca or Melaka ?

 

As far as I could find out Melaka is Malay for Malacca so now we know!

We left the boat at Admiral Marina for a few days and took the bus journey into Melaka to have a look around.

Our first bus took us from Admiral Marina into Port Dickson bus terminal about 15 mins drive. There we changed onto the bus going to Seremban bus station an hours drive then we caught an express coach to Melaka bus station another hours drive. The first two buses were your normal local bus stopping every few minutes to let people on and off. They are always interesting to travel on as you pass through local villages and towns. The locals sometimes stare at you in amazement to see a westerner on their local bus and often they want to chat to you and find out where you are from and most importantly do you like Malaysia. Everyone is always friendly and helpful. The express coach was a little more luxurious with reclining seats, footrests  and air conditioning that was so cold I got goose bumps! Mental note to take a sweater next time. The bus trip cost the 2 of us MYR 21.00 ($7) one way!

Once we arrived at Melaka we found our way into the old city which was granted Unesco World Heritage Site status in 2008. We had booked into  The Wayfarer Guest House for 2 nights. The guesthouse was beautiful. It was thought to be an old rubber trading shophouse built on the river bank.

A family had bought it, renovated and turned it into their home and guesthouse. We were on the second floor in a large room with queen bed and ensuite bathroom. The bed was comfy and the  linen crispy white cotton. The fan and aircon kept the room cool and we had tea and coffee making facilities plus the use of the family kitchen if we wanted. Satisfied we had made a good choice and after a cup of tea we headed out the door to explore.

Melaka was originally just a small fishing village but because  of  its location, halfway  between China and India,  it soon attracted merchants from all over and became a major trading port. A Hindu prince was the first to stop here on his way to the spice islands, followed by the Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch. This all makes the mixture of architecture very interesting and the different cultures means there is a wide and varied choice of some very delicious food to try.

We spent the next 2 days just walking around looking at beautiful old buildings, visiting museums, hunting around in junk shops, visiting different temples, eating beautiful food.  The old part, Chinatown is hanging in there but of course there are your gaudy trinket type tourist shops popping up along with new buildings being constructed on the riverfront.

We took atrip up the river and passed under some very pretty bridges as well as many large monitor lizards that live in the rivers up here.

They seem to be putting a lot of money into the town and hopefully the new will blend with the old without too much damage, as it is the old that this town is all about.  At the end of the second day I was quite foot weary and I treated myself to a foot massage. Jerry treated himself to a back and shoulder massage.

It was a great couple of days and we can highly recommend a trip here. Make it midweek, weekends are too busy. You will not be disappointed.