Sunday 6th July
Morning
We left Kudat
yesterday morning and sailed towards Banggi Island with a gentle breeze, a
gentle swell. It is all very pleasant
and idyllic, in our anchorage. But…we
are in a passage full of…mangroves. And
the water is still and impenetrable to the anxious gaze. No swimming – who knows what lurks below??
When Michel was a
little boy he was obsessed with crocodiles, and would ask, with every bit of
water we saw, Is that crocodile water??
Well no…none of the dams, creeks, rivers, lakes or ocean in Tasmania, at
42 degrees south, contain crocodile water.
But Borneo?? Yes; there are large
saltwater crocs, in abundance.
Afternoon
We have left
Banggi Island(s) and are heading for anther anchorage where – with a bit of
luck – there will be no crocodiles…There is a bit of reception along the way so
I am speeding to take advantage.
Hamish is 14 today.
He is still just about the nicest person you could ever meet in this
world. He is very kind, very funny, and
full of joie de vivre. On the sports
field, he is fiercely competitive, and extremely skilled. And I have just an inkling that he will be a
very savvy businessman one day…he already has Hummer Enterprises up and running
from his locker at Hutchins School, stocked with duty free items he bought in
Langkawi. I am very proud of him and
enjoy every minute of his joyful company.
Tuesday 8th july
Two nights in an
anchorage with no internet…
We quite enjoyed
our peaceful time at Pulau Mandidarah. I
went swimming, and saw a few fish, a bit of coral. Pete worked on his accounts, on his
computer. And I read, for hours on
end. I also went though our food
cupboards and threw out all of the cereal packets which were more than two
years out of date… The fish will be thrilled; I emptied packet after packet
into the warm green Indian Ocean.
The settlement
there is very small, with a cluster of stilt houses, some more battered by
storm than others.
Our new anchorage
is off Pulau Jambongan. I have been for
a swim – of course – but visibility is very poor; I can’t even see one hull
from the other. The water is warm and
beautiful; must not complain.
Actually today we have been less stiflingly hot. It has been overcast, and it didn’t get above 34 degrees. (This might not seem cool…but it is certainly cooler than 38-40, which it is most days, when it is sunny.)
This morning when
I was swimming across to chat to Mick and Janice (SV Zoa,) I saw an army boat speed away from
the jetty. It must have been here to
check on us; all is well – we have protection!
Not absolutely sure we NEED protection… So far the most threatening
thing has been a small boat with some children in it. They paddled out to one of the rally yachts,
in another anchorage, and asked for food.
No scary pirates in speedy boats!
We will probably
stay here tomorrow as well; it is all very pleasant.
Wednesday 9th July
We are now
anchored next to a small stilt village, on Jambongan Island. There are lovely helpful communications
towers close by but…no internet connection.
Not quite sure; I am apparently allowed to LOOK at my blog, but not to
contribute to it. Sigh…sigh.
(I hate being disconnected from cyberspace…)
Very early this
morning I stepped outside to look at the view.
Unwisely… Within a few second a canoe had zoomed up…(yes driven by my
sad-faced man from yesterday). Before I
could say a word a little family had climbed up onto 2XS…food? Soap?
MONEY??? I coughed up some
biscuits, and some soap, and my new friends departed, with the smallest girl
looking TERRIFIED of me every single minute she was ion my company… Pete, from
his comfy bed where he was still snoozing, and reading, called out, You are creating beggars! Oh
dear, yes I KNOW!! I should have said, What do you have to trade? We need fish! (And we do…)
But I am out of practice… Next time I will do better. Or I will make Pete deal with the issues.
At 9am three of us
(Zoa, Out of the Blue II, 2XS,) moved from our anchorage and made our way towards
the village. First sight – a row of
houses, built by the government at accommodation for local Malaysian
families. (Chinese, Indians, guest
workers need NOT apply.) At least these
houses, neat and orderly in straight rows, are on a lovely little beach…
Between the new
houses and the older stilt houses there is a rickety walkway…
We went in close
to the houses and were directed to…The Shop!
Most of the shop
is filled with vats of fuel.
But there are a
few treasures…Lyn and Pete hunted assiduously, and we bought, between us,…onions,
garlic, shallots, Sprite.
We were made to
feel very welcome by the denizens of the stilt houses.
Some of the houses
are more than a bit rickety; others are very pretty and well-kept.
We wanted to find
the village we were sure was just a few miles up the river…
(It wasn’t…)
Many mangroves,
and a few families of macaques, stalkign us along the river bank.
Eventually we came
to some…ummm…works. The Genting
Corporation. Pete organised to get
himself a ride on a motorbike – he was very desperate to buy potatoes. And he was successful!
Arnol (from
Flores, Indonesia,) was his guardian angel.
They came back, both beaming, with Arnol saying, We had a beautiful journey! He
absolutely didn’t want any money; I did
this for friendship! he said. (Pete
did manage to press a few ringgits into his hand, but maybe it wasn’t the right
thing to do after all. They were,
however, gone for hours, and it must have cost Arnol a few ringgits, for fuel.) Lyn, Chris, Janice and Mick stayed faithfully
at my side, by the river, in a little shelter pavilion. This was very kind of them. They were rewarded when Pete returned, with –
potatoes! Yes! And a large, slightly strange (pithy??
pippy?? fluffy??) watermelon, which we
all shared for our 3pm lunch…
Thursday 10th
July
We are on the move
again, heading for Turtle Islands. Maybe
I can connect to cyberspace for just a moment or two as we go past a promising
communications tower, perched on a little island…
test
ReplyDeleteThank you for Hamish's lovely birthday message. For his birthday he had four friends for a sleep over. They didn't want to "do"anything offered (rock-climbing gym, bowling, swimming pool, laser skirmish); they just wanted to hang out. I was a bit terrified about this (alcohol, smoking???!!!) but as it turned out, they were absolutely delightful and kept themselves very happily occupied around Cremorne. They were very satisfied with the slab of Coke, meat pies, chips and ice-cream cake I had provided and I breathed a happy sigh of relief.
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