Diary | Where Am I...?
Sat 10th August 2002
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The Monster Monitor Lizard!
The Monster Monitor Lizard pushing six foot!
Compare and contrast to the regular sized Coke can by its head!

These things crawl around our huts! Infact I never saw any bigger on the island than those that crawled around our huts!! One of the lizards - a good five footer - had just three legs! Now, what is big enough and bad enough to rip a leg off a five foot monitor lizard?!! Then we saw it - the six foot monitor lizard!!! There was also a cat that hobbled around on just three legs too. Well, we know cats like to play!

There was one night when we heard skirmishes in the darkness (well I didn't, but nearly even one else seemed to!) People were putting it down to a cat fighting with a big lizard, but we later heard that there is a jungle boy who sometimes comes out at night and was probably 'wrestling' with the animals!? "Yer, what??!!", yeah, that's what I said too!


Thurs 8th August... Stayed on Mira Beach, chatted and read my book - 'Bill Bryson Down Under' - having been kindly given it by Adrian just a few days earlier. The belly, although in no real pain anymore, is still far from being ok! As Adrian correctly pointed out; the consistency of Milkshake! It was tuna again that night. We struggled to even cope with the rice!

It should be noted that we use alot of candles at Mira, with there being no electricity and all. It just came to our attention one night, what was actually written on the box...

Candels... smokeless, non drip (yeah, right!)
Can be used for:
- Blackouts
- Camping
- Emergencies
- Carols

No word of a lie, I mean, "Carols"!! After that, I just couldn't maintain stability!


Fri 9th August... The Daneng Gang diverges. Mette Louisa gets the noon boat to Kota Besut, a taxi to Kota Bharu and then onto Ko Samui (Thailand), in search of the sun. It is true, the weather here on the Perhentian islands has been doused in its fair share of downpours! So beginning the trek back upto Bangkok where both Denise and Mette Louisa are flying back to Denmark on the 19th. Denise will continue south with Adrian and myself to KL first before flying back upto Bkk.


Sat 10th August... Adrian and Denise leave to head back to Kota Bharu, with the plan of getting bus tickets for the journey down to KL. I will meet them at the RV Inn tomorrow, when I too will leave the Island.

Anyway, having initially heard about the Perhentian Islands because of their awesome SCUBA diving and so far, in almost 2 weeks, failed to fit any dives in, it was about time to dive! Unfortunately, I'd managed to expertly coincide my desire to dive with a national Singapore holiday! Terrific! The place was packed! Fortunately, I'd found a top place the day before. Infact, it seemed to be one of the most friendly places around. It was also the same place that Emma (who was staying at Mira) was doing a couple of fun dives that day too. She'd done several dives earlier in the week and had actually recommended the place. Spice Divers on Long Beach. Another bonus was that they were able to pick us both up from Mira first thing (about 8am).

I did two dives, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The first was around a pinnacle and was an incredibly crowded dive site! Loads of Japanese armed with underwater cameras! I'm not kidding, they were taking photos of everything! Saw loads of great fish though, some puffers and an Eel poking out of its hole. The 2nd dive was hard going at first. The visibility was pants and the current was rather strong at times, but got better. It was a fun dive though, as we had to negotiate pass-throughs and cliffs. We also saw a turtle feeding at our 5m safety stop which really made the dive!

A most pleasant last evening spent chatting with Emma on the beach seats looking out over the moon reflected ripples...

Mira Beach at Sunset
A picture of tranquility - Mira Beach at Sunset

In the Restaurant at Mira
Looking out to sea from inside the Restaurant at Mira.
Emma, Heather and three of the kids.



Where Am I ...?

Mira Beach, Pulau Perhentian Kecil (Small Island). Off the north eastern coast of Malaysia in the South China Sea.