Island paradise

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Palau Tioman, Malaysia – Oct 8 - 12

After 2 days of travelling, we have arrived at the beautiful island of Tioman off the Eastern coast of Malaysia. We are staying at a small beach with wooden bungalows on the beach, a couple dive shops and a few restaurants. That’s about it – we were told it is very congested here??? The beach is set in front of never-ending palm trees that rise up and up, the small turquoise bay encircled by huge rocks teeming with marine life all around. I am saving my chance to go diving for Thailand but was told anyway that the water is getting a bit murky at this time of year due to the oncoming monsoon season. For us the weather is perfect, it is sunny a good deal of the day but not really hot and the sand flies which usually abound here are for the most part absent. The more time I spend on the beach, the more I realise I am not a beach person despite always believing I was from the cold, beachless terrain of Canada. Photographially, the beaches look ideal and perfect but in reality you sweat, get sand stuck all over you and the worst part of all have bugs crawling on you and biting you – in and out of the water. What I really need is a good hammock, under a nice palapa and a frozen cocktail wouldn’t hurt as well. I have become a big disappointment to an undying beach lover like Justin who maintains that I have tricked him and what is he going to do with me now in Australia. We’ll just have to see how I make out in the land of Billabongia.

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