“02:27.401N 104:31.782E”

Saturday 27^th April

We sadly said goodbye to Borneo after a fantastic couple of months there seeing amazing wildlife, beautiful scenery and meeting friendly people always willing to offer help or friendship. Although the rubbish and degradation of their land is saddening, awareness has been raised and hopefully they will protect what is left before it is too late. It makes us appreciate being Australian with rules and regulations, maybe a trifle stifling at times, to help provide us with a sustainable future.

After an uneventful couple of days motor sailing at sea, other than a couple of squalls on the nose making the sea choppy and the going slow, we arrived this morning at Palau Aur, off the coast of mainland Malaysia. Crossing the main shipping lane between China and Singapore at night was interesting, with 19 ships showing on the AIS plotter at one stage. The closest came to within 500 metres with a bow wave four metres high who flashed us with a spotlight, obviously a bit close for comfort! He was after all only 960 feet long, 85 feet wide and motoring along at 16 knots!

Pulau Aur is a steep island of thick bush and huge granite boulders, not unlike Magnetic Island. A few dive boats hung nearby and we enjoyed a swim and snorkel in the sea having not done so for about a month! Recovering reef and some lovely little fish were visible in the amazingly clear water. The deserted sandy beach, lined with palm trees and forest, was inaccessible today at low tide, with reef near the shore making the waves break.

Sunday 28^th April

It’s so lovely to be at an island enjoying the peace of the waves lapping and the Sea eagles circling overhead. A leisurely breakfast of bacon and eggs and fresh coffee before school work and jobs was a lovely way to start the day.

We all enjoyed the beach at high tide. The girls loved clambering over the huge, grey rock to the point and used logs to float around the clear shallows, while Jeremy and I tramped through the white sand. Unfortunately, above the high tide mark, the beach was thick with plastic bottles, nets, plastic drums and glass bottles. Piles had been burnt and new ones raked, so obviously there is some cleaning up done, rather unsuccessfully! Being near the bottom of the South China Sea, clearly the current dumps the rubbish on its way past.

Willow’s achievement today was to jump off the roof for the first time and the girls spent much of the afternoon enjoying the warm, clear water and playing in the net between the hulls.

Wednesday 1^st May

We moved onto Pulau Pemanggil, another steep thickly forested island with huge granite pinnacles towering over the small sandy bay we anchored in. Hatty enjoyed playing in the big, blue net while we motored swiftly along. ‘As we motored in the net, it felt like we were faster than a bird as the currents pushed against us in the clear water.’ Phoebe liked snorkelling around ‘Whale rock’. ‘Dad and I named it because it looked like a whale tossed up on the sand. On top it was covered with bumpy, sharp barnacles that we slowly picked off. While we snorkelled I saw many colourful Parrotfish munching on coral and pink plate coral dotted along the rocky bottom.’ Willow enjoyed playing on the big, steep, rounded rocks and jumping into the water from the rocks. The yellow beach had a little hut on it for the fishermen.’

Jobs done, the boat spring cleaned and the peace enjoyed by all, we moved onto Tioman Island through the very clear, blue water.