So after a huge night out, complete with multi-coloured hair, we embarked on an island hopping adventure. Jumped on a boat & 10mins later we were on Sapi Island on a perfect beach. No waves, but plenty of aquamarine water & multicoloured fish. And tourists. Steph & Ange had decided to jet ski, and Annabel & I went along to watch. But rather than jetski off the beach, we were taken by boat halfway back to the mainland & the girls jetskiied in the middle of the ocean passage. Bizarre. I stayed on the boat & it got a little rocky…those
of you who know how much I love boats would understand how I felt….
After jetskiing it was off to Manukan Island, an equally as perfect, but larger island. We snorkelled again, and generally lazed around. The snorkelling was good for fish. Lots of different coloured fish that swim right up to you, but no coral. There isn’t a lot of focus on nature preservation here.
After a huge day swimming & snorkelling we had Italian for dinner. Great for me, as I’d been on a diet of rice & noodles for the last 6 weeks. Got asked to leave a note in the visitors book…here’s what we wrote…
“There once were 4 girls from Brisvegas,
Who dressed up with wigs & thought they were famous.
Dined at ‘Little Italy’ & had some great food,
Did not go hungry & left in a great mood.
Holidaying in KK has been so much fun,
Although it may be we’ve had a bit too much sun!”
This them sparked a theme of creating a daily poem from then on!!
Friday, my last full day overseas (technically Saturday I will be in the air for part of the day). Decided to scooter around. Steph & Annabel were most excited! Checked out slums in stilit houses over the water, and then the only beach close to town. Decided it wasn’t the nicest beach, so we decided to…hit the Shangri-la. Yep, crashing a glamourous 5 star hotel was just what we needed. It is a gorgeous resort, set right on the water, with a pool overlooking the beach. Swam in their private beach & generally made ourselves at home!
Last afternoon was spent shopping. Bought my last minute presents & spent the afternoon in the air-con. KK is pretty tropical, and every afternoon we were there, the sky got dark & a storm rolled in, complete with lightning & thunder. Then it would go again. Pretty impressive.
While shopping, I was reminded by Steph & Annabel that we had to be home by 5pm for the RW…Royal Wedding. The Royal enthusiasts of the group were superkeen to check out the ceremony, and we had BBC in our rooms. To make it even more fun, I suggested tiaras & diamanté copies of the engagement ring! So we dolled up & had royal snacks (last 2 bottles of wine we could find & funny ring chips that come in a Pringles packet) to watch the event. I must say, I don’t really get into the Royals, but it was pretty fun to watch. Or maybe it was just the tiaras 🙂
My last night. 6 weeks of holiday had finally come to an end. I was more than a little sad. After the RW we headed to a little wine bar we had seen (obviously that’s were all the wine from the supermarket had gone!) for dinner. I made everyone wear our tiaras in honour of the big event – the wedding, not my departure! (We got quite a bit of attention at the night markets on the way – ‘Hello Princess!’). Slightly concerning when we got to the restaurant & walked in to find a Malaysian man with a white cowboy hat & guitar on stage, but turns out he was pretty good! We were again popular with locals & tourists with our glamourous headware. Fun but night. Very sad for my holiday to be ending though.
All up, I quite liked KK. The town hasn’t yet become touristy, and all the locals still stopp & call out to the 4 white blonde girls who explored the back streets of town, or who were on scooters stuck in the middle of a lunchtime traffic jam. The only disappointment is that you gave to go to the islands to visit a good beach. It’s only a quick trip, but it would be great if it was on the mainland.
Flight home was long, but eventful. I did my best to keep Annabel entertained with my new ukulele (thanks Stephy!!) but I’m not sure she was too impressed. She kept trying to give it away! Stopover in KL (6 hrs), abused Starbucks free wifi again, had massages & did duty-free shopping. Honestly, there is nothing to do in airports! Our luggage came in underweight, meaning I could have done so much more shopping! Oh well.
Our flight from KL home we had the largest plane of my trip – actually had 2 isles. Coming over from Perth is only a short flight, so the plane is only small. Taking off on this one actually felt like an international flight. I always feel the magic when you take off at night on a huge plane. The magic of travelling, and getting off the plane somewhere different. The flight itself was long, but as we flew over central Australia, you could see so many stars! It was as if all of them had come out that night. I passed a fair bit of time looking out the window. It was so pretty!
So now, my wonderfully amazing trip is over, and it is back to reality. I am fairly sleep deprived & disorientated today, and you should see my driving (scootering in Asia doesn’t count…that is a whole other skill set!). Thanks to everyone who was interested enough in my craziness to read my blog. I have had the BEST trip ever, and now the only logical thing to do…is plan the next one!
