Pics from Oz

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Hello all,

We arrived today in Thailand. We came on a boat from the island of Langkawi off the west coast of Malaysia.

These are some of the things we've done since we last did an update.

-Got bitten to pieces by bedbugs in KL (C had approx 80 bites on one forearm!)
-Visted the impressive Petronas Towers and the huge shopping mall beneath it.
-Went to Batu Caves with its enormous golden statue and hindu shrines (and nearly 300 steps!)
- Visited the city of Melaka where we took a trip in a trishaw complete with flashing lights and disco music and explored the late night market in Chinatown.
-Spent two days rainbound on the island of Tioman off Malaysia's east coast. Once voted one of the 10 most beautiful islands in the world its lost something of its charm in the years since. It was run down, deserted and litter-strewn. Still, we got to relax and catch up on sleep.
-Took a bus up the very windy road to Cameron highlands. Here we trekked through the jungle to see the worlds largest flower the Rafflesia, swam in a hot pool, visited a tea plantation, got to hold a host of weird and wonderful creatures such as an orchid mantis and a cat-eyed gheko and learnt to shoot blowpipes in a Orang Asli village. (C of course already had experience of this)
-Stayed in Georgetown on the island of Penang accessed via a 2km bridge. Here we shopped for a new camera (our old one is now in camera heaven), visited the largest and surely the most commercial buddhist temple in SE Asia, witnessed a hindu festival where devotees parade through the streets with spears through their cheeks and hooks in their backs stopping every few minutes to dance to music blaring out from every direction. We were fascinated and ended up in a temple half way up a hill and then had great difficulty finding our way back. (Some great pics will eventually follow)
Here we also had dinner on top of Pennang hill, unbeknown to us at the time a pair of Pit Vipers rested just a couple of feet above our heads, then we saw the "Malaysian Michael Jackson" perform a variety of Westlife covers.
-On Langkawi we relaxed on the beach, hired a scooter, couldn't get to grips with it so hired a car instead, slid down a waterfall on the smooth rocks connecting a series of small pools, visited a crocodile farm and went horse riding along the beach (Did this in shorts and so we are now lacking skin on our calves!)

Hope you enjoy the pics from Oz, we're gonna make a quick getaway from this internet cafe (after 4hrs uploading pics) as some weird flying insects keep landing on us and its freaking us out!

Love to you all, Antony and Charlotte xxxxx

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Photos

Fountain Head
Charlottes learnt a new trick! This is from Kings Park in Perth.

Perth at night
This is the view of Perth from Kings Park.

Freemantle
This is the sunset we watched in Freemantle (Perths Port). We had 2 nights here and spent the first day exploring the markets and on the second we went across to Rottnest Island.

Cicerrelo's
Following the sunset we went to prety bizarre harbourside fish and chip restaurant. It was totally chaotic but good fun and great food.

Rotnest Island
We spent the day exploring this island. We hired two very dilapidated bikes with just one gear (not great for hill climbing). We also hired snorkelling gear, both masks leaked and A was given size 13 flippers!! Had a good day anyway, especially meeting the quokkas (see next pics).

A Quokka
How cute is this guy?! Quokkas are little marsupials, kind of like a cross between a rat and a kangaroo. As you can see, they are very round!

C and quokka
Charlotte tempts him over with a handful of water. Apparently they can live without drinking but jump at the chance of fresh water.

Stromatalites
These fairly ordinary looking formations are actually created by tiny micro-organisms called stromatalites over the course of thousands of years. Evidence of their existence goes back at least 3.5 billion years and they are believed to have been the earliest form of life on earth. A thinks they are cool.

The Pinnacles
This is the weird desert where we watched the sun set on 2006 and rise on 2007. It's a bizarre place where thousands of rocks upto 3m in height stick up out of the desert. With the changing light and creeping shadows its an unearthly experience. And at 4am in the pitch black its also pretty darn spooky!

New spot A contest
This one isn't very difficult!

And here they are!
Mal and Richard (A's relatives down under) took us kangaroo spotting on the nearby golf course.

Meet the Miles'
This is us with Mal and Richard who kindly put us up for 2 nights as well as driving us to the airport. The pic was taken from a drive we took along the beach. We had a great 2 days and hope that they will be our travel companions when we return to Oz. (another trip in the early stages of planning) :)

A giant tingle tree
or possibly a Karri tree, we can't remember now!

For those in any doubt..
..conclusive proof that C is a tree-hugging hippy!!

C and enormous tree
At one time we could have posed for a really cool pic with our hire car parked inside the tree but those spoilsport national heritage people put a stop to this kind of fun in the name of conservation!! Killjoys!!! (We're just kidding by the way - we think its a good thing really)

Comments

[Baz]

Nice Pic
Love the last pic of C holding A. By the way, when you finally get back can I be B and can Dave be D? And I can't believe you edited my last comment out!!

[Baz]

Mini Me
P.S. Send me one of those little Quokka things by Air Mail! It can be my "Mini Me"

[Simon Davis]

Hippy!
Hello you lovely twosome, Hope you're having a lovely Valentine's Day on your travels... I must say I wasn't surprised to see pictures of Charlie hugging trees and wombats! Some things never change eh? :) It's lovely being abel to access these updates and see how much fun your both having. Keep the updates coming. I look forward to seeing you both soon(ish)! Simon x