The Good Shepherd at Mossman Gorge

When you look up into the hills from Mossman Gorge you can see a patch of bare rock that looks like The Good Shepherd.  The valley below it is called Shepherd Valley.  It feels good to be watched over, and cared for -  here is Psalm 23 with a little extra description beside every line.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd ..........................................that's relationship

I shall not want ............................................................that's supply

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures .........that's rest

He leadest me beside still waters ...........................that's refreshment

He restoreth my soul .................................................that's healing

He leadest me in the paths of righteousness .........that's guidance

For his name's sake ..................................................that's purpose

Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death .that's testing

I will fear no evil...........................................................that's protection

For thou art with me ...................................................that's faithfulness 

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me ......................that's discipline

Though preparest a table before me .......................that's hope

Though anointest my head with oil ...........................that's consecration

My cup runneth over ...................................................that's abundance

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ...........that's blessing

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord ...................that's security

Forever .......................................................................that's eternity

Trip to Malaysia - part 3

Third week - top end


We flew in to Kota Kinabalu and on the flight YD had been reading the guide book and decided that heading straight to Sandakan was a good idea, so onto the bus we hopped, straight from the airport. . We arrived in Sandakan just before midnight and had to wake up the guy behind the counter.  He said the room was 80 but would give it to us for 75 and then the following day when we said we were moving out because we found something cheaper he took it down to 60.  clean air conditioned, hot shower (own bathroom), and the clothes are at the laundromat.  I also purchased some sneakers and a box of 100 bandaids.
The girls had been talking about a car rental and after a bit of negotiating a small car was reserved for the following morning. It was 108rm for the day so was a very good deal (with insurance, thank heavens) and a full tank of petrol was 50rm.  So eight o’clock we picked up this tiny car (manual) and set off toward the orangutang sanctuary.  YD was navigating with a couple of different touristy maps that didn’t quite meet up. I just buckled up and sat in the back seat wondering if this in fact was such a great idea. Pulling into the car park at the orangutang sanctuary right on time for the feeding I conceded that renting the car had in fact been a good idea. You had to pay for every camera, so we just paid for ED’s camera, and then proceeded to walk down the boardwalk half expecting it to be the same as the last one, where the orangutangs would not come to the feeding station.  Suddenly I saw movement in the trees and a mother with her baby hopped onto the guard rail right in front of us! Wow!  The guides made sure that we stayed back at least 20ft, and then a huge male came lumbering down behind us to join her.  Eventually at the feeding station there were five mothers with babies, one male and one female. What an amazing sight - that hour passed in a flash, all of us totally mesmerized by these wonderful creatures, and once the food was finished they lumbered away....

 We had to hop into the car in a  hurry to make it to the proboscis monkey feeding station and only just made it. By the time they had had their fill, all of ED’s memory sticks were full and she had not brought her computer to download the photos.  Conundrum! we still had plans to drive to Kinabatangan river and take a cruise.

 So back to the hotel we headed to pick up the computer.  Passing a restaurant the subject of food came up and ED pulled over the side of the highway and told me to cross over, get food and she would pick me up on the way out of town!  Luckily it was an Indian restaurant and I got some lovely vegetable rosti - a bit of a change from the rice and curry we had been eating.  Ages later ED pulled in and I jumped into the getaway car and once again we were off!  Oh dear, then ED noticed that the car was overheating!  We pulled into a church parking lot and opened the hood - luckily ED had the number of the rental guy and called. (travelling with a mobile phone is definitely a great idea)  “Oh we never told you to turn on the lights so that the engine fan would come on. - Ok wait there”   Our rescue crew arrived, topped up the water, showed us how to turn on the fan, and once again we were off.  It took a full two hours to get to the Kinabatangan river and as we pulled in they seemed to be shutting up for the night.  We negotiated an incredible deal and climbed aboard a boat.  What a lovely ride that was, the sun was just setting and we saw monkeys, an orangutan, hundreds of birds, and a monitor lizard.   Then once again it was time to pile back into the little car and head off down the bumpy potholed road.  After stopping for a bit to eat at a roadside restaurant the girls both thought they had smelled petrol, and indeed the petrol gauge suddenly seemed to drop.  A quarter of a tank, and it was still a long way home.  It got very quiet in the car as we drove down the lonely dark road - any gas stations that we did see were closed.  “Lord please just let this gas last until we find an open gas station” I prayed.   90kms later, we pulled into the most welcome gas station I have ever seen in my life.  We were almost home!  They picked up the keys as the bus was pulling out of the terminal the following morning. That’s right, we were off again - this time to Semporna - the stepping off point to some of the most beautiful diving in the world.   We booked into a hostel and set off to find a good dive company, and eventually ED decided on sipidan diving, and we would go with her on the first day to snorkel. My bathing suit had not come back from the laundry so I set out to find something suitable to swim in!  It took about an hour to get to Matabuan, the island where we were going to be diving, and our first snorkel was right off the beach around the jetties.  then the boat took us out to another nearby island and pointed out an exposed sand beach leading to a tiny island off the end.  “That goes under at low tide - so it is virgin beach right now.”  We snorkelled out and then wandered down towards our own little island.  When the boat came back for us I asked him if I could just have the camera and ten more minutes, please?  He obliged, and YD finished off her little sandcastle with hermit crabs guarding the moat, while I got some photos of our beautiful little island. 

 The next place to snorkel was absolutely stunning reef - the best I have ever seen - so many wonderful fish and colorful coral.  Then another guy called us over saying he had seen turtles, but I was not so anxious to go where he was as it was very deep.  So a very kind turtle came right in front of me (within touching distance) he sort of turned of on his side and gave me a smile before swimming off again. Be still my beating heart :)  we all climbed back onto the boat for the trip home very, very happy with our days adventures.   The  following day while ED went to Sipidan, the world famous best scuba diving in the world we wandered around Semporna, but YD decided we were not going to do the same thing the following day.   Early morning found us at the fish markets negotiating with a boatman who offered to take us out to Sibuan for 60 ringgits.   No lifejackets, little wooden boat crashing through waves to an island one hour from shore.  What on earth were we doing?

 In the end we spent a marvellous couple of hours hanging out on a pure white beach and lounging in the clear water, and getting a bit sunburned, and then he delivered us safely back to the fish market dock. Safe and sound. We had already checked out, so no shower..... Salty and tired we all hopped onto the overnight bus back to Kota Kinabalu, but it wasn’t quite overnight and we found ourselves at 4am looking for a place to stay!  Once again my very clever daughters got out the guidebook and had us safely ensconced in a dorm an hour later where we could catch up on some much needed sleep.  This was our one and only day we went shopping and the girls bought pearls, and I bought a mortar and pestle, and we shared one last meal together at a rainforest cafe after walking through  a Chinese new year street festival.   The next morning we said a tearful goodbye and I went off in the taxi to begin my flights back to Singapore, then Darwin, then home.  The next day YD began the same process after she and ED had negotiated one last trip on a tiny boat out to sit on a white sandy beach and swim in the clear water.  ED enjoyed a few days in Kuala Lumpur and then it was a short trip home for her.  Our exciting wonderful crazy adventure had ended.  Left are the wonderful memories and photos, and possibly still a little beach sand still stuck in one of our shoes.

trip to Malaysia - part 2

Second Week - Mulu

Sun 8th Jan …. the world heritage listed National Park of Gunung Mulu is commonly known as Mulu and you fly to it on tiny prop planes run by MAS Wings.  It takes you back a few years - walking out onto the tarmac to board, and the flight was not full so we all had window seats - even a snack and drink!   there is a special type of red rice growing there, but I never got to taste any or bring some home - oh well, I will have to go back some day.  They also grow tea, and flying over the area you can see fertile fields crisscrossed with muddy rivers.  We landed at Mulu and the more affluent travellers were whisked off it four wheel drives to the royal Mulu resort - we hopped into an old landrover and were taken to the actual park for 5 ringgits :)   On the way we passed a sign that said “homestay 15 ringgits a night”, and after skirting a few half finished buildings, and walking over a half a dozen planks we found the homestay.  We got a dorm to ourselves with 5 beds, but that was great as we could lock everything up when we went into the park, and just take what we needed.  Very, very basic - the framing on the walls turned out to be quite useful for hanging wet clothes on.  The bathroom had a sloping floor so that the water ran off the edge of the floor under the gap in the wall.  Linoleum was used to cover the floor and walls, thus waterproofing it.  There was a real toilet though which was pretty marvellous, of course it got wet when you showered, but all in all the place was pretty good.  Most importantly it was way way cheaper than anything else on offer, and we wanted to spend our money on other things.There was power from 6 - 9pm so that is when batteries and laptops were charged, and after that you lay on your hot bed wondering how long it would take to fall asleep, but with all the walking we did, we were tired, and so sleep we did.

 We did a tour the very first afternoon - To deer and lang caves - it was absolutely amazing, the size of the caves, and our guide was so great.   She told us stories of what things she had to do in order to get the job as a guide.   They would be released into the jungle with virtually no supplies and would have to survive for 7 days.  If they didn’t make that they would be sent out for 20 days.  At one stage she cut her hand and used huge angry ants to bite the edges of the wound together.  after breaking off the ants bodies she had perfect sutures!  At the end of the cave tour  we wandered out to some wooden benches where we would be able to see the famous bat exodus out of lang caves.   It began to rain and YD pulled out some plastic ponchos she had brought with her, but I was already so hot and sweaty that I quite enjoyed the cool fresh shower!  
There were a few bats that evening, and by 6.30 the guides began to steer us all back towards the exit.  It was getting dark, but they had a nice wooden boardwalk with enough lights to be able to make your way.  Lots of foresty sounds of frogs and other creatures accompanied you back

.  We arrived at the restaurant soaking wet, but they still fed us, and we arrived back at the homestay just before lights out!  The next morning we had booked a tour to clearwater cave and were excited to see that it involved a boat trip to get there.  

There was a little village we stopped at on the way with a market stall of handicrafts.  One interesting thing we saw was a lady playing a flute with her nose!  Clearwater cave was lovely, but the best part was the swim in clearwater river - just as it came out of the cave there was a little pond and the water was so clear and cold.  Unfortunately we had to get the boat
back so couldn’t stay there all day - they obviously design all the tours so that you can do two tours a day.  we went through all our money and decided YD would be able to do the hike to the pinnacles if she wanted, but there was no room on the tour so she missed out.  that would have been a  three day tour.  
Our homestay was beginning to grow on me,  especially because the people running it were so cute.  their granddaughter was staying in one of the rooms and worked as a guide, she spoke english whereas the older couple did not. We didn't spend much time there since we were in the park every day.  For dinner that night I had what became our very favourite meal - local ferns! 

 I would love to try and do some research on growing them - we realized early on that we were going to have to pay for tours, and the restuarants were more than we had been spending on food,  so said we would have one meal of crackers and peanut butter (we had taken them with us) and then not go over 10rm for our other meals, and use the water purification tablets as the water was quite expensive in the park.    we went down to see the bat exodus later and found lying down gave us the best view.

but once again got caught in the rain and saw no bats that day, so gave all our wet clothes to the landlady to wash.  the next day we spent quite a bit of time in the tower where you could take bird photos, and then went for a free walk down to the waterfall.  that was where my feet began to go downhill.  There was lots of mud and as the mud dried in my sandals it acted as a sort of sandpaper and rubbed some parts of my feet quite raw.  After that I tried chopping and changing between the reef shoes and the crocs, but on the last day bought seven bandages for all my wounds.  I was relieved to take a rest the next day while the girls went adventure caving. They had to wear helmets with lights on, and some of the access was quite tight.  They saw snakes and scorpions, got dive-bombed by bats, and at one stage sat in a circle and turned off their lights to see how dark it was.  I must say that I quite enjoyed my morning sitting in the cafe with my feet up reading a book.! The other walk we did was the canopy walk - my gosh I didn’t realize it was soooo high and just made of bits of wood and rope -  you can only go two at a time and then there are platforms around trees where you can stop and take photos - a couple that was doing it for the second time stopped and took photos halfway but I was hanging on for dear life, although it did get better towards the end.

 I was walking with the guide and he pointed out a bird of paradise, but my little camera didn’t capture anything and OD never saw it. (she has a good camera) It is the longest jungle canopy walk in the world - there is a longer one in peninsular Malaysia but it is not all open at the moment.  
we had hoped to have the laundry done the last day, but there was a diesel leak in the river and so they didn't pump water up to the house so no washing, and we had got caught in the rain every night so all our clothes were damp and very smelly.  Your backpacks also get smelly too so there were lots of comments to each other about how bad we each smelled.  We had tried to wash out a few things, but everything was so damp and we had no air flow in our room - just a couple of nails to hang some things on.  The walls were unfinished beams and I found my clothes sort of stuck there - not sure if it was because of the dirt or the rough wood!  The last full day there ED woke up before dawn and went to the bird tower and we went down to meet her later, then YD went on the waterfall walk on her own and drew some lovely sketches and ED and I did the last free walk to moonmilk cave.  We had not thought to take a torch and met some English guys who lent us theirs.  They said we could leave it back at reception afterwards and I attached 20r and said to have  couple of beers on us - see how aussie I am getting!  We were very grateful for the torch as it was one of the darkest caves but ED really enjoyed it as without a guide hurrying her along she was able to set up the tripod and take some lovely photos.  

The walk up there was very steep and we had thought we might go on to clearwater and have another swim but decided against it.  There was an area where we went through and there were about 6 butterflies flying around us - landing on the ground and coming very close - it was just amazing -  

 Then she wanted to take a detour and it was a pretty long walk - we were changing shoes back and forth, but by the end my feet were in a very sorry state.  
The final morning I went and paid for our homestay and then gave them an extra 5.00r for a bag of rambutans as they had been selling bags, and when the girls went back later to pick it up they had the biggest bag of rambutans for us!  A whole backpack full!  When I went through customs and immigration leaving Mulu he asked to look in my backpack and then just smiled and shook his head!   What an adventure that week was!

Trip to Malaysia - part 1

In the weeks before.... the planning and e-mails back and forth and the attempted budgeting, had at times been frustrating, but very busy and exciting.  I was going to see my girls again - Eldest daughter (ED) I had seen quite recently on her trip down to Australia, but youngest daughter (YD) I had not seen for almost two years.   We were on a tight budget and so backpacks would be required items, and filled with only a few necessary items...  during the trip those non approved items would be referred to as contraband, but I was very grateful for a lot of those contraband items.
Wednesday 28th  .. ED was the first of the three of us to arrive in Singapore on Wednesday the 28th and arrived by ferry from Batang Indonesia.   She quickly found a backpacker place to stay and spent the first night in the dorm which she said was very noisy and everyone had the lights on all night, so she decided to move into a private room when YD arrived the following day. 

 Thursday 29th ….  YD arrived at 5am and made her own way to Alis nest and then they went and explored Singapore - visiting lots of temples and riding around on the Subway.  By the time they met me at the airport  at 9.20pm they were ready to move on so we decided the next morning we would take the bus to Melaka.  We enjoyed an Indian dinner at about midnight before heading back to my first experience at a backpacker lodge.  The stairs up to the second floor landing were rickety with no hand rail and although we had a bathroom right across the hall the roof appeared to be layers of tin and wood patching up (mostly) holes and I cant imagine would have kept out much rain.

 I stuck my head out of the hole in the side of the building that served as a window and took photos of the alleyways out the back.  “OK, I thought, this is going to be even more of an adventure than I had thought”    YD and I had the bunkbeds and ED was on a  mattress on the floor, and for this ED had paid 50.00! - time to get out of Singapore.   I woke up the next morning to see YD’s pink painted toenails peeking out the end of her bed above my head, with her pink pashmina scarf draped around her feet.  All will be well I thought - I am with my lovely girls :)  Let the adventure begin.

Friday 30th …....  Our heavy backpacks on our backs we set off towards the bus station, with me snapping photos of colorful buildings, and pretty flowers, and hurrying to keep up with the girls and not lose sight of them in this huge busy city.  “Hey you guys wait up!  I thought it was illegal here to jaywalk.” We stopped at a little restaurant and had soup for breakfast - skipped the pigs organs and crocodile and went for fish balls which we continued to find in all sorts of different shapes and sizes throughout our trip. 

Bus tickets purchased, we loaded onto the bus and admired the different colorful patterns on the seats, carpets, curtains.   Half an hour later we were off the bus and up three flights of stairs to clear immigration out of Singapore, then down the three flights of stairs, and onto another bus, carefully holding onto our bus tickets.  Over a bridge and off the bus again to book into Malaysia at Johor Batu - we were to do this same process a few more times on the trip.   It was about a four hour bus ride up to Melaka, and immediately we started to notice the oil palms, which are a huge bone of contention, ecologically.  ED says the Indonesians all want to plant more oil palms to that they can be “as rich as the Malaysians”.   We arrived in Melaka early afternoon, outside the orange coloured dutch church and clock tower,

then wandered over a very pretty bridge towards a cobblestone street lined with lovely little backpacker hostels.  After manhandling our heavy bags in and out of a few we decided it would be better for ED to go and wander around alone while YD and I sat with the bags.  Firstly we had what might very well have been one of my favourite meals of the trip.  Nasi Lemack  consists of a mound of rice that has been cooked in coconut milk with ginger, and lemongrass. Surrounding it are hard boiled eggs, sliced cucumber, little raw peanuts and some dried anchovies.  there is also a little pile of chile sauce and this can be mixed in with the rice as desired.  ED had booked us into Jalan-Jalan which was a mixed dorm with ten beds along either side of the room.  Each bed had its own fan and electrical outlet which was marvellous.  You had to go downstairs and through a little open garden to get to the bathrooms, which were open at the top to the trees and sky, but everything was very nice and clean, and there was a computer in the office to use and free wi-fi.  Also a washing machine and washing line, so we stayed there a few nights.  We were there for New Years eve and wandered down to a bridge where a local singer was singing, but then went home and hung out at the hostel.  The mornings started with the muslim call to prayer at 6am and then the buddist drumming - I only heard it the first morning, after that it must have just become part of my dreams.....   It was a lovely if touristy little town to wander around - trishaws, potato chips on sticks, (a potato cut on a spiral then stretched out , drenched with batter and deep fried) and flowers everywhere.....

 We did lots of walking around looking at different buildings and gardens and then later in the day the high light was a boat ride on Melaka river which wanders through the town, under one cute bridge after another. The gardens outside the Sultans palace has some cool shady spots to hang out.

The girls had read about a new restaurant so we headed off in that direction - you sit around a table that has a hole in the centre where a little fire is placed and then a pot of simmering sate sauce is placed inside it.  You go to the fridges and choose a variety of sticks which you then cook in the sate.  Very tasty, but we all ate too much and found it quite rich.  One of our favourites was a ball of “spinach”, and then also some fluted mushrooms.
The girls had been reading the guidebook, and had decided it was time to move on, so early the next morning found us boarding the bus for Mersing....
(to be continued)

planetary alignment

We wearily rose at 5am to go down to Newell Beach and see this planetary aligment everyone was talking about.  Supposedly nothing like it will be seen again until 2025.   This was the pathway down to the beach.....

 then we saw in the sky two very bright planets and two much dimmer ones.  It was worth it.  So since we were already on the beach we went for a walk...

 and watched a beautiful sunrise - see the coconut just at the waters edge.....

In November 2012 we will have a total eclipse of the sun just before dawn - I wonder if that will be the next time I am on the beach this early?

Perfect day at the beach

what a perfect day it was today at the beach - the tide was way out and so calm.

A fisherman was wandering around with a long pole and his dog... we never did see him catch anything..

the reflections of the clouds and vegetation in the shallows was spectacular

And the ripples in the sand lead your eye out, drawing you into a  longer and longer walk

We just love the beach when it looks like this ................. words are superflous!
We are so blessed to have this right in our backyard, and we will never take this for granted.
Thank you God for this beautiful world we live in.

wonga beach

We have recently started walking in the afternoons on Wonga Beach. Beaches evolve and change, and some of the other beaches became very sloped, making it hard on your calves. Enter Wonga beach, you can park right alongside a tap so that you are not dragging sand into the car, which is very helpful, in actual fact most beaches here have taps.

Most afternoons there are just one or two other people walking, and our favourite times are when the tide is way out.
It is amazing to see some of the erosion, and how plants survive with half of their roots sticking out into the air.

Coconut trees especially will grow at the wierdest angles.

I didnt like these causarinas at first, but look how windswept they look after a storm

Isnt it marvelous when yours are the only footsteps on the beach?

This island is called snapper island

sometimes at a very low tide you are lucky to see these tiny blue crabs.