Post script

Well we've been back now nearly 2 weeks and sadly the memory of our fantastic holiday is beginning to fade. It took about 4 days to get over the jet lag - we were waking up at 4.ooam and feeling very tired by tea time - but quite a bit longer to re-adjust to reality! School, work, and the lack of it in my case!

One thing we did do, being somewhat guilty about the amount of flying we've done, was to calculate our flying mileage and carbon emissions. We used the Carbon Footprint website to do it and it was quite a shock! In total we had 12 flights and covered just over 26,000 miles (41,900km) and we are thus personally responsible for about 9.5t of CO2 each. Ouch. But hey quite simple to wash away the guilt, as the ready-reckoner on the website offers you several easy ways to offset. From £68 for a re-forestation scheme in Kenya, to about £78 for a contribution to a clean energy fund. Sadly they can't tell me how many trees I should plant, or how many goats I should buy, either of which I'd quite like to do instead.

Finally a huge great big thank you to all the family and frioends we stayed with in Malaysia and Australia. Without you hospitality the holiday would have been a whole lot more expensive, and much less interesting!

Whoops! End of the holiday!

Keeping up to date has been harder than I thought it would be! It's now Tuesday 4th September and we are back in KL (at KLIA actually) with 5 hrs on our hands whilst we wait for MH004 to London Heathrow at the end of our holiday. The last entry was over 10 days ago and I was trying to catch up then. So there's nothing for it bu a very rapid resumé of what's happened in between (hurrah you say!)

Perth WA - 1oth-16th August

Visited the south western tip of Western Australia visiting the Cape Leuwin (where the southern and Indian oceans meet) and the Margaret River wine region. Saw amazing Karri forests around Pemberton as well as the Gloucester Tree over 60m tall - we climbed it. Went to Rottenest Island off Fremantle - saw Quokkas (Wiki it here) and dolphins. Met up with Marion's cousin Douglas and met his family (wife Bekky, and Rachael and Tom) in Boldivas.

Canberra ACT - 16th-20th August
Flew to the Australian capital on 10/8. It's a 4.5 hour flight and that's only the bottom half of the country. Met up with Paul Blessington and his family (Margaret and kids Richard and Louise). Best friends at school and not seen since our wedding back in 1989! Toured the city - quite unique and a bit odd really as a completely planned, built-from-scratch place back in the 1920's. Paul insisted I join him for his regular 5km race (yes RACE) with his running chums. It's OK for him but I haven't run for at least a couple of years. Still happy to play sweeper - no one was behind me! Knackered for the rest of the weekend. Lola went sailing with Richard on the Saturday - nothing is more than 5 mins cycle away - and we went to Louise's school to see a play. Highlight was a trip to the Snowy Mountains for a day's skiing on the Sunday. Went to the Mnt Perisher resort - and pretty good even by European standards. Tiring day! Saw loads of road kill (squished kangaroos) on the way back. Very common apparently!

Toronto NSW - 20th-27th August
Caught the (intercity) train (ha ha - not very fast at all!) from Canberra to Sydney, then a commuter double-decker to Toronto where we met up with Roz Skinner - a friend from our Twickenhan days (and the ski fit group). She has only just moved back to Oz after over 30yrs in the UK. Has a lovely house on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Visited Sydney - of course - where we did the following:

• walked from the Spit Bridge to Manley Harbour (nice)
• caught the Manley ferry back to Sydney Harbour (quintessential)
• walked the city and darling harbour (very touristy)
• climbed the harbour bridge (very expensive but an amazing experience - a must-do)
• went to the Opera House and saw a dance production (awesome)
• walked in the surf at Bondi Beach (dude)
• sailed on Lake Macquarie on a 42' ex- Admiral's Cup racing yacht (so there). Trouble was there was no wind!

We had very pleasant stay and it was great again to catch up on an old friend!

Cairns Qld - 27th August-2nd September
Flew to Cairns in tropical northern Queensland and it felt like we were in another country! A 3hr flight and it's only halfway up the eastern side! Stayed in the YHA on the Saturday night (and experience!) and picked up our rather nice 4-berth motorhome from Britz on the Sunday. Drove up to Port Douglas then Cape Tribulation, exploring the beaches (extremely fab) and the rainforest along the way. Highlight was a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef where we snorkeled at three different sites on the Outer Reef. Absolutely amazing and unforgettable! And jumping off the back of the boat some 40km off shore took some doing at first. But there it was - just like all the photos and Jacques Cousteau films you've ever seen. Right there in front of your goggles! Moved inland to the outback and the Atherton Tablelands, and explored that region (Mareeba, Dumbalah, Atherton) where we:

• visited a coffee plantation (Skybury - you can buy it in Sainsbury's)
• drove along a dirt track for 80km
• watched the Atherton Maize Queen festival
• visited the world's largest curtain fig tree
• walked around a volcanic crater lake
• drove the spectacular Gillies Highway

Back at Cairns YHA for our last night. Tip: go the food court in the night market and wait till after 8.30pm when all the stalls reduce the menus to $5!

Brisbane Qld - 2nd-3rd September

Sunday was our 18th wedding anniversary and also a very early start to catch the 6.00am flight from Cairns to Brisbane (PS it was also Father's Day in Australia but my family wouldn't let me celebrate it). But these regional airports do have something going for them - proximity and simplicity! Bed to push-back in less than an hour! Arrived in a sunny Brisbane to meet up with my cousin Aedah who has lived in Brisbane for the last 7 years. Went to North Stradbroke Island in Moreton Bay and picnicked on the beach. Another fantastic place and yet again we had it all to ourselves! Just as the ads in the UK say "where the bl**dy hell are yer?" Moreton Bay is quite a special place for wildlife as it's where the cool-ish South Pacific Ocean meets the warmer Coral sea. So right on cue we saw Humpback whales and dolphins. The former in at least two pods, and they were fin slapping and breaching. And we had a grandstand view from the beach. The breaching is quite stunning to watch as theses magnificent creatures launch themselves out of the sea and crash back with explosive force. The dolphins were also amazing to watch, apparently just plying in the surf and riding the waves. Quite amazing for us Brits, but probably an everyday thing for the locals. There were also Dugong herds in the bay, but we didn't see them. However we had a treat on the drive back to see swarms (the sky was black with them) of very large bats feasting on the evening bugs. In fact they may have even been Flying Foxes. Monday 3rd and we explored the city of Brisbane. A weird sort of city - not at all planned with old bits and swanky new bits side by side, but with its fair share of gleaming business towers and apartments, massive malls, old colonial buildings, and a fabulous city park on the South Bank, complete with a city beach.

In the evening we have a farewell dinner with Aedah at the Breakfast Creek Hotel, one of Brisbane's most popular watering holes. Then it was off to catch the midnight MAS flight to KL....

That's it...

Tuesday 4th September - here I am whiling away another hour at a free internet station catching up. I will edit the text and throw in more photos when I get back to UK later today.

Cheers!!

More catching up!

Hello happy readers! I hope you are still with us. If not or you have just joined, this is the Hampson-Ghani family blog of our holiday in Malaysia and Australia. Today it is Friday 24th August and we've been away for 29 days! I guess in the UK you are all getting ready for another Bank Holiday weekend. Is the weather still awful? In fact it's no so great here in New South Wales, but at least it is their winter!

Anyway, it's catch up time again . Lola's last post was from Canberra, but we hadn't filled you in on Perth, and now we are in NSW visiting Sydney! Or as Lola would say, more of the boring stuff...

Back to Sabah.....

Thursday 9th August: went on an island hopping trip to Gaya, Sapi, and Mandukan off KK. Did and very interesting jungle walk on Mandukan and saw bats, lizards, hornbills and even some monkeys! And go a close up of a mangrove swamp. Apparently these are the only Tsunami-resistant coastal defences... On Mandukan we went snorkelling around the coral just off the fabulous beaches. I got sunburnt as I forgot to cream up my back!




Friday 10th - Off to Perth

Left at the crack of dawn - in fact before dawn, so we missed the huge hotel buffet breakfast! - to fly back to KL and then pick up a B777 flight to Perth. Arrived there just after 4.00pm and a total of 8hrs flying. The weather was so bad we couldn't see the ground until we actually touched down! This is their winter! Met Dave Phillips (friend from Heysham days, and chauffeur at our wedding) at the airport as he had just flown in himself from Mumbai. Haven't seen him for over 15 years! His family (Christine and kids Iona 16, Douglas 17 and Callum 19) live in a huge house in a swanky suburb of Perth. Spend the evening catching up on friends, events, jobs etc!


.....Next update: meet Lawrence!

Australia

Hhey this is Lola and I am reporting from Canberra (capital city of Australia). Okay I Will skip the boring stuff like traveling and I will tell you about yesterday and today. Ok yesterday I went down town to Starbucks with the children of the people that we are staying with and we met some exchange people from Sweden,Italy etc. And had a good time talking and eating cake!
OK last night we watched half of a movie called Anger Management (trash American comedy!)
Today me and my mum and dad went to the Parliament House and saw the senate and had a tour around the building. This afternoon me and their son went sailing in the near by lake with some old men which was fun and then we went to a cafe.
good bye.

Sabah

Flew into Kota Kinabalu on Saturday morning, and checked in at the Sutera Harbour Resort Hotel. This is a truly fabulous 5-star hotel! We somehow have a 3 room suite and have blagged it at a ridiculous rate compared to the full price. The website gives you an idea of the sorts of facilities it has. On top of that the staff are so friendly and helpful it it just a joy! And they are all locals (OK Dave, wake up, it's not the real world!) Everything is just so perfect, and nothing is too much trouble to sort out or fix. Oh and it's big- almost 1,000 rooms!

The first night we go out to town on the free shuttle bus, and head for the famous Sedco Seafood court. A chaos of competing foodstands all with live seafood on display in huge tanks. Just point and they cook it there and then. And there's a free cultural show thrown in too!

Next day we try to book all the must-do Borneo things, but find that everyone got there first, so a climb up Mount Kinabalu (4,095m) is out of the question. So too is a trip to Sepilok, the world famous Orang Utan rehabilitation centre. This is a DISASTER! Thus is what we came here for! All the tour companies tell us that their trips are full (Korean holidays), so the only way to do it is on our own. So we get down to some serious brochure trawling!

Word of advice: if you plan to come to Sabah to do these things, definitely book them up in advance.

Sunday

The Gaya Street Sunday Market. Another mad frenetic shopping experience. Everything from Papaya to puppies, Batik to fake Bvlgari watches. Too hot for us! Head back to the hotel and take a trip out to Manukan Island for some kayaking. Fantastic sunsets! Book white water rafting for Monday.

Monday

Trip to the Padas river for a grade III-IV experience! half the journey is by train on the North Borneo Railway, built by the British. Hot and sweaty 2hr trip with the locals up river to the base camp. Great rafting down the muddy river (the guide says just add sugar if you want a cup of coffee). Get back to the hotel pretty exhausted. Still no luck with Sepilok...

Tuesday

Early trip into town to try a few travel agents face to face. Still no luck with the tour companies, so decide to fly to Sandakan and just do it by taxi. No time to book a flight, need to go the the airport and check in now! Pick up Marion and Lola at the hotel and off to terminal 2 at KKIA for an Air Asia leaving in just 2 hours. Fly past Mt. Kinabalu on the way (really close!) so we get to see it after all! Short taxi ride to Sepilok and we do at last make it to see the orang utangs. The jungle walk is incredibly hot and we are drenched! We spend about an hour and a half by the feeding platform just captivated and spellbound by these lovely creatures. hard to tear ourselves away, but a truly memorable experience (photos to follow). Go back to Sandakan for a look round Sabah's second city, but this is quite a disappointment afer KK - very dirty and not very interesting, and searingly hot. Nothing really to do except eat and drink - even the waterfront walk is a bit sad! Catch the 9.00pm flight back to KK and we are back at the hotel by 10.00pm!

That's all for now - no more tokens left! Off to Perth tomorrow (Saturday 10th). Strewth mate!

Across the water in Sabah

Hi folks! Sorry for the interruption in posts, but we haven't been near a pc since last Thursday and I still haven't been able to connect my phone to the GPRS/Edge network even though DiGi says I've got access. Anyway, we have a bit of catching up to do! I'm writing this in a internet cafe in the Centre Point shopping complex in steamy Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. We've got to get a move on as Marion is in the handicraft market and we said we'd meet up on the waterfront at 6.30pm and that's in 15mins time! The sunsets here are dreamy! No time for photo uploads today, but we've got loads to show you at some point!

Last few days in KL

OK, after the Batu caves, we went to the amazing government new town of Putrajaya. Basically it's like a whole new city created out of nothing just for the government offices and departments. A bit like Whitehall meets Milton Keynes, only with 95% humidity and 30C all year round! There's the Kings residence, the Prime Minister's house and office (we are definitely not talking No. 10 here!) as well as a massive mosque, a huge lake, and of course all those amazing buildings just for the department of this and that. And it's only a small country. And to support all of this, they've built a new city alongside called Cyberjaya - I'm not kidding! As it is out of the city there are no traffic jams so the civil servants can all get to work on time!

Friday going away party!

On Friday evening we all met up at a swanky floating restaurant on lake Titiwangsa in the middle of KL for a farewell dinner. It's a sort of thank you to our relatives for hosting our stay. Then it's early to bed as we have a 7.00am taxi to take us to KLIA for the flight to Kota Kinabalu.

In the jungle..

On Wednesday 1st August we explored the depths of a man made jungle just 16km north west of KL city centre! At FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia) there is a 600 Ha reserve of "natural" tropical jungle - I say natural because in fact it was created by the British in the 1920's! They call it forest, I'd call it jungle. It felt like we were in the jungle anyway. Steaming hot and alive with sounds and awash with smells! There was also a canopy walkway in the tree tops which was pretty amazing. Here are some photos:











After FRIM we went on to the Batu Caves, part of a spectacular limestone outcrop in which there are numerous caves. That largest is of cathedral proportions -it is absolutely massive! This cave is now a Hindu Temple and there are various religious festivals throughout the year. It is a typically gaudy place and somewhat dirty, but you have to see it! It's a hearty climb up the 272 steps to the top (and the geometry of the stairs is very odd for western feet) and on the way you have to avoid the dozens of monkeys scouting for food!