27th July - Kinabatangan River - Kampong Sukau

Sunday 27^th July

Last night John and Catherine jumped ship and had a night ashore, at the eco-lodge nearby.  They had a great deal: dinner, breakfast, two river cruises (4-6.30pm, 7.30-9.00am,) as well as a night in a tiny twin- bedroom with shower, toilet and…large ceiling fan (approx. $70 each.)  Irresistible!

We were going to join them on the 4.00 boat trip but…there was a bit of a mix-up between Pete and me as to what time the boat was to leave…and he was FAST asleep, on a thin blue cushion on deck, at 4.00.  I couldn’t bear to wake him.

The Miedeckes had a wonderful adventure.  They saw a wild orangutan, swinging free in the jungle, and a fabulous kingfisher, red and yellow. 

A bit blurry but unmistakably a wild orangutan!

On 2XS we had our very own adventure…We had gone out in the dinghy (and oh what a lovely big dinghy it is; it feels SO solid and safe, not like a dinghy at all.  More like a small ship!) to look for monkeys along the river bank, and then we stopped for a chat mid-stream, with Janice, Lynne and Mick.  They showed us photos on their iPad of the 3m crocodile which had been circling Zoa earlier in the day…

It started to rain, just a few drips, so we all headed back to our boats.  Faster!  The rain was absolutely pelting by the time we got back.  Our poor cameras had to shelter in the anchor bucket, which has many holes… We put them safely inside, then looked out at the rain, and without a single word, rushed to get our soap, shampoo, whatever.  Oh the bliss!  While we were rinsing off the suds we realised that there were cascades of water running off the tarps, so we got out every bucket on board and then had a delightful time scampering about emptying them into the water tanks.  I also filled ever receptacle I could find inside – kettle, washbasin, jug, glasses.  Not a single drop was going to be wasted!  I think we got hundreds of litres; it was so very satisfying! 

In the meantime John and Catherine were out in their small tourboat, with only my very small fold-up green-spotted umbrella for shelter…

Catherine took some BEAUTIFUL bird photos

Eventually the rain stopped, and very satisfied with our efforts, and very VERY clean and refreshed, we chuffed over to join them for dinner in the restaurant.

How did we chuff?  Well Pete and John managed, miraculously to rescue the outboard engine, which got completely soaked in our Sinking Episode.  Fortunately the river is fresh water, if very muddy, and we hauled it out quick smart.

Pete took it apart and cleaned it and uttered words of praise and love and now it goes better than ever!  It seems to cope perfectly well with the much bigger dinghy so…all is well!

Salon Miedecke on 2XS

Many things happen on deck.  Sometimes it is a salon; other times a motor workshop.  At other times some of us play Bookworm on our iPads…

John hasn’t brought a charger for his computer.  His is a MacBook Air, as is mine but…it is a few years older so OF COURSE the chargers are not compatible.  Chris, on Out of the Blue II, just happens to have the right sort of charger.  So John’s computer is regularly hoicked from boat to boat, via boat-hook… What could possibly go wrong??  But…so far, so good!