Sydney

Now, we thought Singapore was expensive and prices were high but it is nothing compared to the extortionate prices of Sydney! We had booked an AirBnB at a guys house called Stacy, yep, it already sets up a picture of him (sorry if you know any Stacy's), he answered the door looking as though he had just jumped off his surf board, with just shorts on and enthusiastically greeted us "Hey guys". A pleasant man who thought he was younger than he looked! We had an action packed itinerary for Sydney as we were only there for less than 48 hours! 

Our flight from Singapore was overnight so we arrived in Sydney at 1000 with only a couple of hours sleep. Our room within Stacy's house was based in Bondi Junction, so we threw our bags in our room and walked to Bondi Beach to be unpleasantly surprised. I think we had both got preconceived ideas of what to expect; a golden beach which stretched for miles with surfers riding huge waves and a general 'surfers paradise'. But we thought we had arrived back in England, at a cold rainy Brighton! There was nothing remarkable to state about Bondi except the sea was very clear and clean and has a swimming pool directly fed from the sea water which was full of locals teaching children to swim. 

We had planned to see friends that had emigrated from the uk, Guy and Helen and their daughter Layla. Guy kindly picked us up and we went to their house for dinner which overlooks Rose Bay. A fantastic and beautiful view which Rosie and I admired whilst there. Great company as always, Guy and Helen welcomed us to Australia and we had a wonderful evening.  

The following day, our last in Australia, we wanted to do some sight seeing which we combined with meeting Jan and her husband Stuart, friends from work. We met at a bar which overlooked the Sydney Harbour bridge. They were spending three months in Sydney as their daughter, Lisa had recently given birth to their second grandchild. 

We walked around the harbour, the Sydney Royal Opera House and ate some lunch. We caught up with each others lives and it was great to see them both. 

Ironically just after parting ways with Jan and Stu we came across a food and wine festival just the other side of the Quay. It's a shame as we would've loved to have explored it with Jan and Stu but it wasn't to be. So finding our two favourite things in life; food and wine; meant we were delighted! 

We spent the next few hours sampling wines from around the world and unbelievably, it was loads cheaper than in a bar so that made us even happier. 

We hopped on a ferry and went to the next Quay; Darling Harbour. 

We wondered round and made our way to the Westfield Tower where at the top, a revolving bar and restaurant slowly showed 360 degrees of the city from the highest point. We had a drink and some olives and watched as it took 45 minutes for our view to return to our initial sighting.

A whistle stop tour of Sydney where we will return when we have more expendable income to enjoy the prices of Australia. The next morning was an early flight to New Zealand where we will be spending the next six weeks in a Camper van!! 

Singapore

Now we were expecting Singapore to be expensive in comparison to our previous six months but it was a huge shock to the system. Arriving at our standard, no frills hotel, we had a celebratory (just for being there) beer which cost £6 each!! We were used to less than £1.50 but never mind...when in Singapore. 

We stayed in a colourful place just outside in a suburb called Little India; and having spent six weeks in India it was very similar, just not as dirty! 

We wandered around the market, taking in the familier delicious smells of curry and spices. It was great to relive experiences and memories which we were reminded of around every corner. 

We had only planned to do a few things in Singapore, one being a visit to little India, another was to visit the 'Night Safari'.This is basically visiting a Zoo at night to see animals that are predominantly nocturnal. Just arriving from Borneo where we actually did this in the wild, we thought it might be a let down and anti-climax but we were hugely impressed and would recommend it to anyone visiting Singapore. 

We have realised since travelling that we much prefer the rural areas, trekking in the jungle is more enjoyable to us than walking around another large city, but Singapore felt different. It has a spacious, green and clean feel to it and we loved it from the moment we landed. We walked around like excited children taking in the futuristic architecture and enjoying the cleanliness of the city. 

Seeing how the other half live in the incredible Marina Bay Sands Hotel...

Catching a boat ride in the shopping centre..

We did a great deal of walking around Singapore, drinking coffee and Rosie even got her hair cut for the first time since leaving the UK!

I did a little needle work...

Singapore is meant to be the cleanest city in the world and we were impressed by its conscious effort to be environmentally friendly, something we had not experienced on our Asia travels so far. There was lots of information educating people about environmental issues and how we can improve the world we live in. 

We visited the 'Gardens by the Bay' which are similar to the Eden Project in Cornwall, they had two 'domes' or Eco-climates. 

One housed tropical and exotic plants with a waterfall and the other, plants from all corners of the earth, America, Europe, Africa and Australia. The plants were beautiful and we enjoyed walking around these well designed domes. 

We read information about the current climate change and watched an excellent video which showed the increasing rate our planet is being destroyed by humans, an eye opening day. 

Within the grounds of these two domes, where steel, man made trees which we had read light up at night and also 'dance' along to music similar to the water fountains in Kuala Lumpur. So we waited until nightfall, alongside dozens of other people, whilst laying on our backs looking up to these trees.  

At 1945 the music started and so did the trees, the colours and music choice was amazing and we were mesmerised; they even had the Superman theme tune, 'A Whole New World' and my ultimate personal favourite, 'The Circle of Life', amongst others! We both felt warm and fuzzy inside after the performance and it was a great way to finish the night, and Singapore! 

After only 72 hours we were leaving to fly to Sydney. But we had read and heard that the airport is worth spending a few hours in as there are things to see and do. But mainly because they are free! So we got to the airport ridiculously eight hours prior to our flight! There was a free cinema, free butterfly park, free leg massage chairs, the list goes on and as we are poor travellers; free was the appeal compared to the high city prices! 

Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR

We arrived in a smoke filled city, due to the Indonesian fires, where we navigated our way to our hotel using trains and metros. We had booked accommodation at a hotel a stones throw away from the famous Petronas Towers and gladly we had a perfect view from our room.

We ventured out to get some awesome pictures of the towers in their glory - all lit up at night. Then we went inside for a lovely meal followed by a colourful water fountain show which changed colour and shot out water to music. 

A whistle stop tour of Kuala Lumpur (or KL as it's commonly known) and off to Borneo.

KOTA KINABALU 

Similar to Krabi town in Thailand, one recommendation for Kota Kinabalu (commonly known as KK) is; don't bother! Although it was slightly better than Krabi town as it had a shopping centre which must've recently opened, within the last few years, which had a cinema on the top floor. 

A typical flat in KK..

Whilst in KK we visited the local market which was much like any other Asian market we had visited before, but we loved the atmosphere and meandered around the stalls for a while people and veg watching!

Locals repairing clothes on the streets..

Fisherman in the harbour..

We had gone to KK as we wanted to climb and concur Mt Kinabalu at 4095.2 metres and it is the closest city to the mountain. We had to spend two nights there but we made the most of it and as suggested earlier, we visited the cinema to watch the film 'Everest'. Probably not the wisest film to watch the day before we were due to ascend the highest mountain in south east Asia, albeit we were in tropical heat rather than ice and snow! 

A short two hour bus ride to the base of the mountain where we had planned to stay at a hostel run by a man named 'Jungle Jack'. A divorcee of three wives, approximately 50 years of age and the most laid back and likeable character we've met to date. 

The map to Jungle Jacks house..

We especially enjoyed the kitchen rules...

Our bed for the next two nights was a converted shipping container, with a bit of damp in, good before a climb!

He also had puppies, which Rosie adored..

His place was brilliant with amazing views of the mountain and hundreds of people passing through his doors; he organised everything from the mountain passes to food and drink and taxiing us the kilometre to and from the mountain. Unfortunately we weren't able to climb to the summit due to earthquake damage, however we could climb just short of it. 

We set off from Jacks at eight forty-five in the morning where we met our guide, Margaret, and two other ladies for the trek. 

It was a gruelling and extremely steep incline to the summit which was six kilometres. 

The route had wooden signs every half a kilometre of the distance covered and even today we still aren't sure if this is a good or bad thing! 

Some photos on our way up to the top!

The locals, making us feel a little bad for feeling so tired..!

Feeling very relieved that we reached the top, a little break before descending back down..

When we returned to Jungle Jacks he had delicious homemade chicken soup ready for us, we ate whilst 'Stinky' the dog watched us...

It took us four hours to ascend, an hour for lunch at the top and just over three hours to descend; the next day, I was walking like a seventy seven year old man down stairs and Rosie looked like she was trying to imitate John Wayne. We were elated to have completed our achievement, even if our legs didn't agree. 

We had already decided to have some R&R in Sepilok where we could spend four nights exploring the jungle but most importantly; try to catch a glimpse our orange cousins, the Orangutang! 

SEPILOK

Our four hour bus journey ended where we were dropped off on a roundabout in what seemed the middle of nowhere. I went for an explore to see if I could fathom which direction on the roundabout to go, meanwhile a friendly taxi man named Martin (I'm not sure that was his Malaysian name) had spotted us across the roundabout and come to our aid. He said he was a taxi but I think his old, tiny car; similar to a Fiat Cinqachento was a bit of extra income. Rosie had to sit in the back seats with both our backpacks as the boot was so small it wouldn't fit even one and we headed the 2km to our accommodation.

A little wooden villa in the middle of the Bornean jungle which overlooked a large Lilly pond. A perfect place to relax and allow our leg muscles to repair from our climb, also just a five minute walk to the Sepilok Orangutang Rehabilitation Centre. Much to our delight, also within a five minute radius, was a Sun Bear Rescue Centre and Rainforest Discovery Centre. 

The first day, we visited the Rainforest Discovery Centre and completed a few jungle trail walks including a 20 metre high 'canopy walk' which was fantastic; the sound of the jungle is amazing and exactly as you hear on television. 

We silently walked through the trail to spot exotic birds, a big squirrel, the size of a cat, amongst other insects, Flora and Forna. 

We ventured deep into the jungle, where the humidity was 85% alongside a temperature of 38'C; is a recipe for ridiculously soaking clothes! 

We were quiet whilst walking as there is a very rare chance that an Orangutang can be spotted. Suddenly we heard rustling of trees up ahead.  We stopped and waited, to then catch a glimpse of a monkey; not an Orangutang but a Macaque monkey, renowned for being fierce and vicious. One spotted us and started to stalk us, probably eyeing up our backpack and its contents. Being the man in the relationship, I thought it necessary to show that I am the chief primate in this situation. I picked up a big stick, made myself as tall and big as I can (difficult I know) and charged at the monkey, who ran off; Rosie was impressed! We then watched the rest of the troop cross the path we were walking, approximately 30 monkeys including babies, juveniles and adults.

The next day we woke to very loud meowing and on investigation we found a young kitten stuck in a fence, he'd climbed far too high for his size and got frightened. We helped him down and for that he followed us for as far as we'd let him. Worried he'd be separated from his mum we put him in a nearby garden and ran away so he couldn't follow us. He was adorable and if we could have brought him home we would! 

The big day had arrived; Rosie having her childhood dream of seeing Orangutang's in the wild - Sepilok Orangutang center! 

The rehabilitation centre has no fences or enclosures, the Orangutang's are free to come and go as they wish.  Many of the Orangutang's are rescued from Palm Oil Plantations where they have been found without their mother, whether the mothers fate was at the hands of poachers or illegal forest fires to make way for even more Palm plantations, who knows? Also, Malaysian families or farming families sometimes find them on their land and keep them as pets, apparently unaware of the illegality, until someone reports it and the centre can rescue the Orangutang. On arrival at the centre, they initially have to be tested and stay in quarantine for a number of days and then they are introduced to the rest of the Orangutang's. Some take on mothering and mentoring roles by teaching the new resident how to climb, swing, forage for food etcetera. According to the centre, some Orangutang's leave after only a few weeks never to return, some come back every few days for breakfast and dinner and some return at every meal time. 

We arrived at the 'feeding platform' thirty minutes before the staff filled it with food. 

We, amongst a group of people, waited silently in anticipation. We then spotted movement from high up in the canopy; huge branches of trees swaying from one to the next. Then the rope which connected the platform to the trees began to dramatically move until we saw hands of an Orangutang coming along the rope which turned into legs and a body hanging below. 

Closely followed by a second and then a third, carrying a little baby. They settled down on the platform to start their breakfast. 

It was a privilege to be able to witness and share some time, if only for a couple of hours, with an animal that is dangerously close to extinction. They are 96.4% genetically identical to a human, more needs to be done on a global scale to reduce their death rate and increase their reproduction and mortality, including education and reprimands on illegal forest/jungle fires used to clear a path for palm Oil plantations; otherwise these amazing creatures, the closest to us as humans, will no longer be around for the next generations!

The following evening, we had the chance to do a night trek through the jungle to try to spot nocturnal animals. We met our ranger at the gates of the Orangutang centre and ventured inside. 

This was fantastic, we both thought, just us, a ranger and the jungle. We made our way into the jungle and stumbled across 3 juvenile Orangutang's who where trying to find a bed for the night. It was magical, one was less than 5 metres from us and the ranger had to scare him away. We wanted to spend more time with them and get closer but understandably they are kept away from human contact to reduce human-borne diseases which could be fatal for them, alongside wanting the Orangutang's to become independent so they will leave the centre to return to the jungle. 

As it got darker, we saw flying squirrels, which can apparently fly up to a staggering 100 metres away, a nocturnal lizard and bird, a tiny tree frog and to top it all off, a Civet cat; it was incredible and we were elated!

The next day was a 6 hour bus journey back to KK where we flew out the following morning to Singapore.