Home sweet home
11 December 2010
Annette
A little bit about where we're at. Rebak is one of 99 islands that make up Langkawi's archipelago. It is a tiny island and exclusively run by the Taj Resort. The only way to and from the island is a ten-minute ferryboat ride from the main island every 1.5 hours. On one side is the Five Star Hotel with a luxury pool, white sandy beach and recreational facilities, an all-inclusive resort, which caters primarily to Indian Newlyweds. On the other side of the island connected by a wooden footbridge is the marina and boatyard, which harbors all the yachties passing through. It seems this is the time of the year where cruisers are gathering in order to make their way west toward the Red Sea in convoys (safety in numbers philosophy) to avoid the pirates. It is a full service marina with a boatlift, dry dock (which is were we are at) and chandlery. What's cool about being here is that the cruisers are able to use all the resort facilities and participate in the resort functions i.e. cooking classes, and live entertainment, as if we were hotel guests but, we also have our own exclusive Hard Dock Restaurant, laundry, shower and bathroom facilities. There is a little market/gift shop incase you run out of bread, milk, eggs and Oreo's, which I visit daily for a bag of ice in order to replenish our tiny little cooler. I've been doing some cooking, breakfasts, lunches and occasional dinners, but the food at the Hard Dock Restaurant is good, easy and you can't cook a meal any cheaper.
We are surrounded by wild life, and I don't just mean the other poor souls on all sides of us on the hard stand. Our aft deck looks into a jungle, where each morning we sit with binoculars to watch the constant activity and raucous of exotic birds. They all seem to be coupled up and defending their territory. The hornbills arrive making the loudest noise, and stir up all the commotion. The Osprey circle above dominating overall, and the Brown Fish Eagle's (the island bird, Langkawi), seems to like to pester. Everybody has a job to do! Closer by we have a menagerie of social butterfly's that grace our boat with a constant flutter of color and beauty. There are monitor lizards on the road and otters in the marina. Then we have our uninvited guests, the troops of Langur monkey's who entertain us while sipping our cocktails during happy hour, then sneak aboard while we're away taking showers before dinner. As I approached the boat and witnessed a few young buggers fleeing, I was curiously surprised to find all the food I'd left on the counter while preparing for dinner, as well as Dad's famous chocolate covered granola bars, were untouched. I discovered why the next morning, they are not gourmands and opted for the bananas and mangos instead.
Life is simple, life is hard. The day-to-day things that we take for granted like hopping in the car, driving to the store and getting exactly what you need don't happen here. But, then again we don't have to set an alarm, sit in traffic or listen to nonsense on the McAction News.
Pictures to follow soon.