9th October, 2009

I think I am getting worse instead of better at keeping up with the blog, but as I am having one of those nights when sleep seems to be eluding me, thought I might as well get up and do a blog update.
Since the last blog we had another 6 days in Kudat and while their did boat maintenance, including me doing a sewing repair job on the genoa, a bit of cycling around the town and had a barbecue and pot luck dinner with Fran & Dave & Jill and Bruce (Daemon) and some of the other yachties who were in Kudat. On the Saturday afternoon we went across to a bar at the resort behind us and watched the rugby along with another 6 kiwis - big disappointment as that was the game the All Blacks lost to South Africa. We all then went along to the cheaper restaurant at the golf club for dinner.
We finally left Kudat along with Jill & Bruce on Daemaon on Tuesday, 15th Sept. and after we rounded the top of Borneo we had a lovely sail down the coast with just the genoa and spent the night in Agal Bay in a very sheltered anchorage. From there we headed to the Mantanani Islands and anchored between the island and a coral reef. We ended up motor sailing the whole way as there was very little wind. It was beautiful and calm when we arrived and Dave and I got in the dinghy and went for a snorkel on the reef. On the way back we stopped off at Jill & Bruce's boat and had a cuppa and by the time we were about to leave the wind had got up and there was quite a little chop. Any plans of us giving the bottom of the boat a clean had to be scrapped. As the evening went on the wind intensified and a few hours later we had a rather nasty electrical storm for an hour or so. They are not very nice and one is always in fear that the mast is going to get hit by lightening which would wipe out the electronic gear. We generally try to disconnect all that we can and the computers go in the microwave and oven for protection. We ended up having a very roly night and the next day was not going to be much better so we headed off straight after breakfast for Police Bay,
Gaya Island which is just off Kota Kinabalu. We have been in there several times and it is a lovely anchorage. We arrived there early enough in the afternoon that we were soon in the water giving the bottom of the boat a scrape and clean to remove barnacles, slime etc. I seem to have lost a day but we must have spent another night anchored along the coast as we headed into Sutera Harbour Marina on the Saturday morning (19th). We were fortunate enough to be able to watch the Wallabies v NZ rugby game on Sundance who have Astro TV so did not have to venture off into town to the Pirates Bar to watch it. As Betty on Sundance had a free dinner at the marina as well from the optimist sailing, Betty and David from Sundance and us went and had our free Barbecue smorgasboard dinner which was pretty good with just about every variety of food you could imagine. However the drinks were not that cheap!!
On the Sunday morning Dave and I headed off into town to do the market to stock up on fruit and vegetables and planned an earlyish start on Monday morning to start making tracks down to Miri. However as we were about to leave a storm came across and it was another hour before we could get away. Another two boats in the marina also headed off shortly after us and we all ended up anchored in the same bay for the night which was nice and calm. We had wanted to anchor off Tiga Island but there wasn't going to be any shelter so ended up in Kuala Penyo. We were anchored quite well out as it was too shallow closer in but we had a great fireworks display for several hours that night as over the weekend and for the next few days the Muslims were celebrating the end of Ramadan and in Malaysia the Muslims were on holiday until the Wednesday (23rd). We had a mixture of sailing and motor sailing that day but the next day we were away just after 6am and had to motor sail all the way to Labuan as we had quite a strong wind and on the nose the whole way. We tied up in a dilapidated marina which is starting to be resurrected again. We had to clear customs, immigration and the harbour master there as we were leaving Sabah. However most were closed until the next day (Wed) so we stocked up on a few trays of duty free beer as we were down to 1 can left and headed off at 8.30am the next morning to do the customs etc. thing. Got the customs and harbour master thing done okay but not surprising customs sent us to the wrong immigration building so ended up having to walk back to the ferry terminal building to do immigration which is virtually next door to customs only to be told that we didn't need to do immigration as we were only clearing out of Sabah into Sarawak which is still Malaysia. Every time you get told something different and it all depends on who you strike. It can be very frustrating but you just have to learn to go with the flow. Finally left Labuan at 11am and headed for Miri doing an overnight passage.
We had a good 20 knot southerly against us after leaving Labuan and it was not that nice out there until we got past Brunei Bay and we had to do quite a bit of tacking and then at 3am the wind came around to the SE and we had lovely sailing right up until we arrived in Miri just after 11am on Thursday 24th. We were a bit worried that we might not get into the marina as it is very shallow at the entrance and it was a spring low tide and at the time we went in the tide was .4. At Miri there is only two tides a day and high tide was not until about 9pm and then it was only 1.8m. I stayed up at the bow ready to drop the anchor if need be and Dave just let the boat drift in with the current but we must have only been centimeters from touching as the depth sounder got down to 1.7m.
Once in a berth we were delighted to find our friends, Leo and Anne Sim from Pewter tied up opposite us. On the Friday afternoon we biked into town to do the customs, immigration thing and that night the yachties had a drinks and nibbles get together at the end of the pier we were on. The next few days were spent decommissioning the boat, along with cleaning etc. and the Sim's and us had a few meals together and we had our last dinner on their boat on the Tuesday night as I had completely cleaned out both the fridge and freezer and what I did have left over I gave to Anne.
When we first arrived in the marina we were met by the manager and he told us that we would have to change berths in a day or so but he would let us know etc. However as the days went by nothing happened so we assumed we were going to be able to stay put so just before lunch on the Tuesday Dave put more ropes on to tie us up more securely etc. Within about 15min of doing it the Manager comes along and tells us we need to shift which we did later on that afternoon. We are now actually in a better berth for leaving the boat and is more secure and more sheltered.
Wednesday, 30th Sept. dawned and we had a taxi pick us up at 8am to take us to Miri Airport for our 10am Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur which landed at 12.20pm. We had booked in to the Tune Hotel for the night which was walking distance from the airport. The room was clean and comfortable but you could not swing a cat in it. There was only 300cm on each side of the bed and 500cm at the end. We struggled to find room for the luggage and there was certainly no tea making facilities. There was not a lot to see or do there but we did have a look in a factory outlet place and ended up joining an English couple en route to NZ for dinner. Checked out next morning at 10am and then walked over to the airport and waited there for our 1.30pm Air Asia flight to Melbourne. Was an 8 hour flight to Melbourne and we arrived there at 11.30pm and Leith was there to meet us. What a shock to the system after being in 35C degrees for months and coming to 8C degrees!!
THE GRAMPIANS.
Leith had Friday off so had us up and away next morning at 7.45am and we headed off to the Grampians, which is nearly half way to Adelaide, for the weekend. He had decided that since we had been to Melbourne 2or 3 times we needed to see a bit more of Victoria so he booked a cottage for us at Halls Gap in the Grampians. Talk about freezing there and a bitterly cold wind to boot on Friday. We had to stop en route for me to buy a pair of walking shoes as I did not have room in our luggage to bring ours from the boat as we had his dive gear with us and had a weight restriction. He had us doing a few short walks on Friday in the freezing cold and I had 4 layers of merino tops plus a polo fleece on and still froze. Also visited a great information centre they have there. Halls Gap is a popular place and as it was school holidays there were a lot of holiday makers there and I could not believe how many were actually camping in tents in the freezing cold. That afternoon there were about 30 kangaroos on a grassed area in front of the campground but never saw them there again after that. As Hannah could not get the day off she came down by train and then bus and arrived at 9.30 that night.
Next morning Leith had us climbing up to the top of the Pinnacles which is a 2.1km trek and I have since had sore calves and shins for several days!! He is really into tramping and the outdoor thing. We then went for lunch at the café at the information centre and had a wild foods platter which consisted of a salad with a crocodile kebab, kangaroo, smoked emu and wild duck. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and doing a little sight seeing.
The Grampians are also renowned for their wild flowers and in the local hall they had a big display so we went and had a look at that on Sunday morning and then to a craft market before we headed off into the bush to do some four wheel driving as Leith and Hannah have a 4 wheel drive Suzuki Grand Vitara. We saw the effects of the 2006 forest fires but saw wallabies, emus and lizards in the wild. Had a picnic lunch and got back to Melbourne around 5pm. Our niece, Tiffany is also in Melbourne and she came over to Leith's to see us and have dinner which we enjoyed. Leith and Tiffany had not managed to get together until then as they live on opposite sides of Melbourne.
Leith dropped us off at the airport on Monday morning and we arrived in Auckland at 5.30pm and were met by friends, Linda and Ross Goodin and we headed off into Howick for dinner where we had a lovely dinner at a local restaurant before they dropped us off at Dave's mother in Highland Park retirement village. Tuesday morning we spent reregistering and getting a warrant of fitness for our car plus renewing Dave's driving license which had expired in February. After lunch Dave's sister, Jenny, husband Bill and son, Richard came to see us and that night we went to our friend's Grant & Lenore's for dinner.
Spent all Wednesday with Dave's mother and left at 5pm for Te Kauwhata where we spent the night at Ross & Linda's and came on down to Tauranga to my mother's, stopping off at my sister's, Wendy & Tim, for lunch. Before getting to Mum's Dave had an appointment at the hearing clinic and dropped off his hearing aids to be sent away to be fixed as they have both died. Whether they are fixable and if ACC are going to come to the party to fund some new ones remains to be seen.
We I have a specialist appointment in Hamilton on Tuesday, then head south from there and spend the night with my brother in Rata and then on to Wellington to Rachel & Sean's on Wednesday morning and really looking forward to seeing them all again and spending time with Brodin & Daisy and Scarlett & Flynn when we get down south..
We fly from Wellington to Christchurch on 20th to spend 9 days with Cameron, Melissa, Scarlett & Flynn and fly back to Wellington on 29th. After that, nothing is organized, well not at the moment anyway other than another hearing appointment for Dave on 10th November in Tauranga.
So, I think that about brings you up to date.

A bit late adding this to our blog but hopefully will give you a further update on our NZ travels in a short while!!