The Island Hopping Tour

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Geo: 6.32, 99.85

We did the island hopping tour today and coming back to the hotel and thinking about it, I thought it was pretty good. We were picked up very promptly at 8.30am from the hotel and driven for half an hour to Pantai Cenang. We were picked up by boat firstly to visit the Pregnant Maiden Island. The boat to go there was quite quick and very breezy so it helped with the heat! I had to take off my cap in case it flew off! On the way there we passed a few islands which appeared to just come up from the sea. All you would see is the island, trees and the sea. Some of them had a few cliffs. Anyway, the Pregnant Maiden Island is so called because of the shape of the mountains. Looking at the mountains, it looked like a pregnant lady lying on her back. From the sea we were given a good view of it then we went inside to the lake.

We were then guided to the inside of the island to walk up to the lake, Once on the island, there were heaps of monkeys around, looking around for food from us tourists. On the way to the lake wasn't so bad, not too many of them were seen. We walked for about 10 minutes, up and down the stairs before we reached the lake. Once at the lake, we saw the Pregnant Maiden from the other side. The lake was beautiful, crystal clear and calm. Apparently it was up to 14 metres in depth! We didn't go swimming in there but we did splash our feet. The water was nice and cool given the hot and humid conditions of the island. I couldn't stop sweating. The lake was freshwater, whilst around the island is saltwater. It seemed like millions of years ago, there was a cave but the case collapsed due to the weight of nature and left a big hole. This hole was then filled with rainwater as time went on.

We left after taking a few photos and on the way back, I think because of more tourists, there were more monkeys on the walkway! I even saw one following a tourist in case he had food. We were told not to carry food as the monkeys would come and steal it from us.

After that, we went to a fish farm. This was quite good. A 20 minute stop and we were able to feed the fish in the fish farm. Once the food was thrown it, they started fighting each other for it! Much worse than our goldfish at home!

Next stop was another island, the Big Lion Island. This time we saw eagles being fed. Our boat driver would throw food in the ocean and the eagles flying above would come and swoop down to get the food! It was so cool! They'll be flying high up then start their downward path, swoop, grab the food on top of the water, then fly up again, without seeming to get wet!

Our last stop was Wet Rice Island. We were given an hour to do what we wanted, so we just sat on the beach and bummed around. The sea was so calm and warm, it reminded me a bit of the sea in Mauritius.

After our island hopping tour, we went to Cenang Mall for lunch. We asked our driver to drop us off early and had lunch at Old Town Coffee House. The food was nice and cheap! Our food and drink cost $A14! For 2 people! We walked around the mall a bit. It was nice to stay in a/c for while before heading back to the hotel.

After a bit of a rest, we had a bit of a hit of tennis. There is a cost for everything ie court and racquets but tennis balls were complimentary! In that heat, I was sweating quite badly, hat and sunnies had to go off as they got in the way. The net wasn't set up properly (too high) so it took a while for me to adjust. It was higher than normal and serving normally meant that most of my serves went into the net. It took me a while to figure out the spin on my serve to get it in. I also managed to ruin my runners by going into the mud to fetch a ball. It went under the fence and out in the garden which I didn't realise was muddy and off into the mud I went to get it. The shoes were ripping anyway to time to get rid of them. Bye bye runners!

After tennis was a quick dip in the pool. Pool was quite nice actually, not too cold and quite warm. There was a pool bar but decided to have a drink later during happy hour.

Dinner was again room service with us having Char Kway Teow and Nasi Goreng Dayang.

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