“02:47.383N 104:12.745E”

Sunday 5^th May

We've had a great time on this rugged steep island covered in thick jungle, matted with twirling vines. Straight, sandy beaches are interspersed with rocky, granite headlands. The midday heat has been enjoyed by lounging in the net strung between the hulls, with Stirling my brother, who came to stay for a few days on his way to Australia. The clear warm water had lovely cool patches for a refreshing swim. The girls loved zipping along on the donut again and paddling, now so capably, to shore in their pink kayaks.

We enjoyed a brisk walk through the humid jungle to a lovely waterfall, gushing over rocks into an icy cold pool.  Willow liked swimming in the ice cold, brown waterfall and sliding down the rock that was very slippery.

It was good to see there is an effort being made to protect the remaining turtles, after a visit to the turtle centre. Two species no longer come here to lay their eggs, so by collecting and protecting the eggs laid on the beaches by the Green and Hawksbills who still lay here, it will ensure their young will do the same in years to come.  Lights and human activity has stopped many turtles laying successfully, so there is no young to follow the instincts of their species.

In the middle of the bay at Juara, was a small rocky outcrop and we were pleased to see it was a healthy little ecosystem. Large schools of small and large fish massed around the coral covered rocks. I saw an enormous bloated Pufferfish, beautiful Batfish swimming regally together and flashing schools of silver fish. Jeremy watched a reef shark cruising through the rocky protection. The pushed up mass reminded us of the underwater volcano we snorkelled on in Indonesia and we expected burping bubbles of air and sulphur to appear at any moment.

Relaxed cafes lined the sandy beach and while we enjoyed delicious garlic prawns, crispy squids and tasty chicken soup the girls jumped nimbly from the jetty, played games in the sand and skinny dipped in the moonlight.

Tuesday 7^th May

After waving goodbye to Stirling at the airport, a small open building equipped to process its four planes a day, we explored the villages of Tioman. Blue and green flags of the political parties waved from every structure after the national Malaysian elections. The opposition party tried, yet again, to break the stranglehold of the ruling party’s 56 year reign. The Australian independent senator, Nick Xenophon, was banned from Malaysia due to being outspoken about the corruption of the government when he came as a scrutineer for the electoral system earlier in the year. Needless to say they won again by a slim margin, some say dubiously, and so are ruling again for another five years.

Cabana café on the sandy beach was a great place for lunch with pirate memorabilia, hammocks and comfy chairs to sit in while we demolished our first hamburger for a while. Many shops sold some fruit and vegetables and the usual array of highly sweeten foods they seem to love here. Roti and iced lemon tea for breakfast, a favourite for the girls, was delicious as usual!

A snorkel by the Marine Park headquarters was amazing, having a huge variety of fish, obviously used to being fed which mobbed us. A remora attempted to attach itself to my stomach and other fish nibbled at our hands. It’s a pity the rest of the marine park is not well policed as most places we snorkel still have very few fish and coral. The police boat, meant to be monitoring the waters, anchored behind us at Pulau Aur and started fishing and fishing boats have anchored next to us on numerous occasions coming in from netting the bays.

Monday 13^th May

We spent a couple of days relaxing at Juara with Gary and Bev, from Muscat, before heading south slowly, via more islands, bound for Singapore. We've all enjoyed the R&R, catching up on school work, eating at the local restaurants, boogie boarding in the small waves and playing on the beach. Phoebe enjoyed boogie boarding into the beach on big white capped waves. “I liked making a sand turtle sculpture on the hot sand slope. I enjoyed patting ‘Jo’, a green sea turtle and a baby turtle with a sore flipper in the Turtle Sanctuary”. The turtle hatchery had a hatching so we were able to see the movie of them being released onto the beach for the swim out to sea. And… we watched Hawksbill hatchlings scurrying down to the beach this morning, bound for the bay and onto the ocean currents to feed and grow. Wow they are small and looked so vulnerable as they disappeared into the waves.