Tropical Winter, Mon, 28 Aug 17
Simon
in Asia, Malaysia
People are generally wonderful, really helpful and lovely. And in a genuine kind of way, not the ‘customer service’ kind of way. It’s also amazing how well pretty much everybody knows English. This, plus what I heard from various backpackers, …
Tropical Winter, Thu, 24 Aug 17
Simon
at a Jungle, UNESCO site
in Asia, Malaysia
We got up early again and left Camp 5 by 6:40. On the way to the boat we found an otter on the riverbank – it was checking out something that died there recently but was mostly eaten by now, …
Tropical Winter, Wed, 23 Aug 17
Simon
at a Jungle, Mountain, River, UNESCO site
in Asia, Malaysia
5:30 – we wake up and get ready for the trek. 6:40 – we set off to the Pinnacles. 7:10 – we have made 500 metres, I’m swimming in sweat, wondering if I had enough for breakfast. Judith and Eugenia …
Tropical Winter, Tue, 22 Aug 17
Simon
at a Cave, Jungle, River, UNESCO site
in Asia, Malaysia
Good night again, despite the fact that many more people checked in to the dorm yesterday! Thank you, gecko night watch! I got up reasonably early to pack before leaving for the three day trek to the Pinnacles. I left …
Tropical Winter, Mon, 21 Aug 17
Simon
at a Cave, Jungle, UNESCO site
in Asia, Malaysia
Surprisingly good sleep for a dorm room! Nobody snored, the fans kept us cool, and the earplugs did their job. Maybe it’s the friendly geckos, at night they did get off the walls and were roaming everywhere, keeping peace and …
Tropical Winter, Sun, 20 Aug 17
Simon
at a Transit
in Asia, Malaysia
I managed to catch a couple of hours sleep at the Denpasar airport, lying at a vaguely comfortable cafe sofa. Around 5am I got up, all loopy, got through the check-in, managed to catch some internet to discuss some AirBnB …
Tropical Winter, Sat, 19 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
I keep learning more about Australian pests. The biggest pests – white people – brought with them a while host of other creatures that soon became a massive problem, for the land, but for humans as well. The story of …
Tropical Winter, Fri, 18 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Jungle, Sea, Waterfall
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Last night I slept well! Finally! The earplugs I bought yesterday really helped. Got up at a crazy 8:30am and had a wonderfully relaxing morning, not rushing anywhere, eating a glorious tropical fruit breakfast. Charlie and Dee got up after …
Tropical Winter, Thu, 17 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Sea, UNESCO site
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
What a noisy night! We have room on the back of the building yet I can hear all of the street noise! Are walls made of paper here? Every truck passing by made the air conditioner vibrate, and then a …
Tropical Winter, Wed, 16 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Jungle, Mountain, Museum
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Last night was colder than I expected, and definitely more noisy. But the warm day is making up for it! We had some fruit for breakfast and went out pretty early to catch a scenic train to Kuranda, a mountain …
Tropical Winter, Wed, 16 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today I woke up to a lazy morning. Charlie and Dee went for a run, Eva went to see the opera house and parks, and I just stayed home pretending this whole city episode isn’t happening. I spent the morning …
Tropical Winter, Tue, 15 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City, Transit
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today was a travel day. We had a relatively lazy morning, Eva and I went to see the sunrise over the canyon, we had breakfast outside watching birds and people on the campsite, dingos running about… Really need to come …
Tropical Winter, Mon, 14 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Desert, Mountain
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we got up very early to go and see the sunrise. However, we were once again almost late due to needless faff. This time driving was even more stressful – tour guides can wait, sunrises generally don’t. We barely …
Tropical Winter, Sun, 13 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Desert, Mountain, UNESCO site
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we wanted to start the day by taking the Mala walk – the free one the Anangu people want you to take. Dee was slow to get up and we were almost late, which was quite stressful for me …
Tropical Winter, Fri, 11 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Desert, Mountain, UNESCO site
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we got up early to be at the airport for our 9am flight to Uluru. Oh. My. Gods. On the plane, I had an aisle seat, but then spotted an empty window seat and just clawed my way to …
Tropical Winter, Thu, 10 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City, Museum
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
The last two days, both spent in the city, were hard. It was everything I don’t want from holidays now – having plans, busy streets, cold and wind, people wanting me to go to places, huge crowds… I’m tired. It’s …
Tropical Winter, Tue, 08 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City, Museum
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we got up early to go visit the settlement in Swan Hill. Dee couldn’t sleep last night and got up late, and Charlie, whose snores might have been related, did go for a morning run. I’ve seen the settlement …
Tropical Winter, Tue, 08 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City, Forest, River
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we got up around 9, after yet another night of sleep-not-sleep. Morning at the Farley Estate was rather pleasant – after some playing with the dog I sat on the verandah, under a blanket, enjoying the sun. Perfect state …
Tropical Winter, Sun, 06 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
This morning I couldn’t sleep past 7am. I tried, but soon I joined Eva, who got up even earlier, for a literary morning. Around 9 Charlie and Dee got up, abandoned their ambitious plan to go running, and we went …
Tropical Winter, Sat, 05 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
They were waiting on the other side! We did eventually come out of the mammoth queue – turned out that Dee, who was landing half an hour later but has a UK passport which can be used in the automatic …
Tropical Winter, Fri, 04 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Transit
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
I am not looking forward to this. 27 hours between three planes. First leg, Edinburgh to Amsterdam, was very stuffy and sleepy – I was pretty much passed out. I think I dreamt that Eva kept offering me some of …
