Tioman to Singapore by public transport

Strictly speaking, there are 2 ways to travel between Tioman and Singapore. The direct air route operated by Berjaya Air or the ferry to Mersing and then land route to Singapore.

At this time of writing, one way trip via the air route cost around S$120. Price is reasonable, for me it is anyway. Problem is that its not always available, like fully booked or not on those days that you must travel. Its a once a day flight service from Changi and max passengers is 48 on this Dash 8 aircraft…

The one with stripes down the side is the one to Mersing

Taking the ferry and land route is the most assured way to get back, but I found that it will take 8 or more hours. Altho it cost only S$24, I think its not worth the time and hassle. Well, I had to try it to know it..

There alot of power in that body of water today

I couldnt get a flight out on the day before I have to go back to work… alright, so I try the land route. .. hoping for the best.. and it turned out to be the worst. See, the conditions were bad right from the beginning. Strong winds and heavy swells, ferries were having difficulty just coming along the pier. So, the 0930hrs ferry was late and we left at 1000hrs.

The marina is not too disturbed by the troubled waters

I was the last to board but still there were plenty of seats… but its stinky already… lots of people, kids especially were already throwing out.. well, the beginning of a roller coaster ride… and the ferry stops at several other piers on the island before heading for Mersing. There were some folks at the last pier that couldnt get on board. Ferry is full and they will have to wait 3hrs for the next one. The 1.5 hrs ride took us 2hrs today.

Here we are, at Mersing. Lots of boats are in today

Therefore, I didnt make it for the 1100hrs bus at Mersing. Had lunch and waited for the 1300hrs, which was also late. Departed Mersing 1330hrs and arrived JB Larkin 1600hrs. There were confusion among the passengers, me included, on why this bus doesnt go to Singapore, when our tickets says it does. Of course, the bus driver could not properly communicate the directions on what we should do next. Typically Malaysia, very dissappointing. Naturally, we all got it wrong and boarded the SBS 170 instead and paying more money for that crossing. Lucky me, I have the Singapore EZlink card, not so for the rest who didnt have any loose change SGD. It was all just so unnecessarily confusing, plus touts where everywhere pushing cab rides to SG.

Berthed work boats, a sign of the weather outside this protected harbour

Ok, so the idea is this, get on SBS bus 170 from Larkin and it will go direct to the Causeway immigration at JB. Get off when everybody does, follow the crowd and dont worry, there is always somebody to follow in this very busy exchange. Get to the counter, get stamped out of Malaysia. Follow the crowd again and look for escalator down to the SBS bay, its on the left. Most other buses are on the right. Jump onto bus again and enjoy the ride across the historic causeway. At Singapore immigration, get off and follow the crowd, get stamped in and clear customs. Follow the directions, get back down to the SBS bus bay and off you go.

Heading to SG, look for this bus

I made it across quite easily, having done this before about 20yrs ago… Things have definately been improved. The transfer system is so much more efficient now. A/C immigration buildings and brightly lighted paths, the environment is so much better. No more long queue in dark humid lines standing infront of the immigration officer. Thing of the past, good riddance.

Get off bus 170 at Kranji MRT station. Switch to NS line towards Bishan, switch to Circle line heading towards Serangoon. Made it home 1715hrs. Its like a day at work, from 0830 to 1715hrs, but its also like being in many strange places during that time… I hope not to do this again..

Hike over the mountain at Tioman

We had really wanted to see Juara which is on the other side of Tioman, as in its across the mountain to the east of the marina. If not for the wind and swells recently, we would have gone and try anchor Calliste off the beach for a day. Seems like it would be too uncomfortable to stay onboard in these conditions, so I thought the way to see Juara is to be berthed at the marina and walk over…

At beginning of a long windy uphill.

I mean, I do enjoy long distance walking… but the uphill part is abit daunting.. and not knowing much about the mountain road.  Nobody gives a good description of this walk, like how far, how much time would a average person take to hike over. Its completely unknown, except that people have done it to and fro in a day…

Alright, so I am going to go until I cant continue anymore… and I am not carrying any water nor food… travelling light with not even a backpack. Just a phone, RM90 and no ID… … really, I am not a very smart traveller, just the silly ones with the can-do attitude…

Midway, an opening in the forest to look out over the marina and seas.

And I am doing this alone. Me, by myself, up the lonely road across Tioman. Look, no way Doug is gonna make it across… he is just gonna talk me out of it, every step of the way… so if it is to be, it is up to me. And so, here we go.

I am not kidding, this is really tough. Only just turning in at the 1st bend and I am so winded already. Okay, need more mental strength here… talked myself into making the 2nd bend, maybe it wont be so steep after that… opps 3rd bend is just as bad… too early to give up, lets try another 100 steps… gotta rest… really sat down on the alu railings for 2 mins… found that my posture while facing up is not comfy at all, turn around face downhill and stretch legs out front. .. arhhh……

Think zen, deep breaths… now slow down the breaths… ok heart rate under control now… feel better now, ok move on.. Its a beautiful day for a walk, make good use of it. .. and I keep telling myself that I have come to far to give up.. Nope, I didnt think that I made much distance at all, just trying to push myself over the slope, and the next one, and the next one…

First signs of human dwelling on this lonely road

So I started at 0845hrs. The SuperCats (Phil, Gina and Felicity) pass me on their motorbikes at 945hrs. Just about time I was seriously thinking about giving up… I listened for the sound of engine as they disappear around a corner further up, trying to gauge how much more incline there is beyond them.. Hmm… I think its quite close now.. PUSH ON! Even if I have to sit on the ground and rest every 20steps, I am going for it!

Bananas! 20ft of tall grass separates me from that fruit!

I am certainly doing better than those monks doing the 3 steps and flat on belly walk! At least I am making better progress… Another reason to push on. … 1030hrs, finally! A long flat! Ok, it should be easy now. The worst is over! So I thought!

Made it! At last!

Coming up next, steep downhill.. what goes up, must come down. If it was hard going up, you can tell that it be just as hard coming down… This time, my problem was my toes. They hurt from being squished in by the pointy down pressure from the steepness of slopes.. so much so that I had to walk backwards to relieve the pressure… I am at the point, where I will do whatever necessary to finish on the Juara side. I’ll roll if I must, I’ll be there! Keep telling myself that…

1130hrs, finally, signs of human habitats! and human activities… did I tell ya I was so dumb and had no water… These green bananas actually looked really good to me then! .. for the record, it took me almost 3hrs to cross… hit the beach food shacks and drink like theres no tomoro… I was drowning myself with coke!

Phils at Juara

Well, the real attraction for me at Juara is Phils’ new getaway house. And so here I am, refreshed and trekking over the beach pathway to Phils’… there is no road, this is THE way…

A Malay style beachfront chalet

And look, a pretty Malay beachfront chalet. Isnt that cute. Its really small, but has a toilet and 2 double deck bunk beds… no A/C, so I wont bother to ask.

Felicity in her soon to be furnished loft room

Lucky me, low tide. .. so I didnt have to get too wet walking over to Phils. They are now putting in cabinets and furniture. Soon they be ready to party! And nobody throws a party like Phil and family…. so looking forward… to seeing it finished… and the party of course.

I can imagine that sun rise over Juara would be so pretty. This house is so perfectly situated to watch sun rise happening in the shade of the rocks and trees. Felicity has the best view, I am jealous

The smaller gardeners quarters

Even the workers that will be hired to maintain this property have a nice hut and a great view. This would be so perfect for me, but I am not one for the service industry …

 Nope, I am going to try get a cab back. Bump into John and Wilma. They walked too, and they were also there to visit with Phil. So we shared the cab fare and it all work out well.. RM90 for 3 of us in a 30 min ride. The driver is going to eat well tonight.

So, at the end of the day…. I got to see Juara, visit Phil and family… and Doug happily settled for the comfort of just seeing the pictures and hearing my story… We shall both be contented.

2012 Sailing Adventure – SG to Aur to Tioman

Foyer of our flat: Collecting stuff that are going with us.

It seems like we have a pattern that is influenced by the prevailing S. China sea climate. Every year, about end April, we go on a boat and head out to Tioman. We’ve done that in 2009, 2011 and now 2012! .. I almost made it in 2010 in Eleanor.. I took off, but didnt complete it tho.. Well..,  we are probably doing it 2013… pretty sure .. on route to Japan… possibly, cant be 100% sure, but its a good chance that we be doing that.

Kayaks loaded, fuel loaded, ready to go

This year, I am taking time off work between Labour day and Vesak day to make this a 10 day sailing adventure on board S/V Calliste. Didnt feel too good about leaving 2 cats to the care of 2 teenages in my partially renovated flat.. hope they’ll be alright…

27 Apr 2000hrs: We moved onboard with fresh groceries. Put things away and put kayaks in their places, took awnings down…. At about 2359hrs, we were too pooped to continue and nah… we are not leaving at 0400hrs.

28 Apr 1400hrs: We are finally underway. Yeah! While in Singapore waters, we continue to enjoy mobile broadband and that was fun… Hopefully, we get Maxis broadband to work just as well… I had to make arrangements to get the Maxis Sim card ahead of our departure, and sign up for the monthly prepaid broadband for RM68. Thats not bad, but only 3G of data and wonder how good is the transfer rate.

At about 2000hrs, it was just beginning to get really dark, and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me… there was a strip of very black water ahead of us…. hmm…. seems to be getting bigger… WHOA! Throttle back engine way down, change course 90′ Port! That was just reflex action and good thing too. We were less than 10meters away from running into some really dense fishing stakes that ran a long ways down to somewhere that I cant see the end. Almost a heart attack… anyway, we got around it by going inshore and passed it in 6meters depth. This end was lighted by some very small blinking red light… I was like, WHOA! Damn crazy garbage people put up this unmarked trap! Yeah right! What blinking light! Damn! #$!%#*@. This is, btw, off Tanjong Ayam.

Approaching Aur. Our favorite island in South China Sea

2200hrs, going thru the narrow passage among the rocks off Rumunia. Good timing, we had a slack tide and passed the dangerous North rocks easily. It was very dark and we relied totally on my 7 yr old Garmin GPSMAP76C and 2005 Bluecharts. I have done this route 3 times before, going up to Tioman, so I was pretty sure that if the old guy(GPS) is working, we would be okay.

Here we are. Moored on the Duyong side of the channel.

29 Apr 0100hrs: My watch. Lots of lights out there to our Starboard. Could be anything, fishing skiffs, big ships… looks like something is closing in on us, I am starting to see some bright red, green and white lights… must be some SG power boats going the same way… hearing their engines now… WHOA! Look at that … how many are there…? They look exactly the same… size, height and lights, and seems to be quite large… 60 to 70 ft perhaps… Changing course 20′ to Port, wanting some distance from this convoy… On closer look, they are military vessels and 7 of them. WHOA! And every one of them checked us out with their on board spot light! I think we have our picture taken 7 times tonight… hmm… are these Malaysian Navy? I didnt think they keep their vessels so up and running… everything seem to be in good working condition…

Calliste at Aur mooring

0400hrs, my watch again. Looks like another big vessel is coming up on our starboard. Couldnt tell where he is going, but its coming a little to close for comfort. 20′ to Port, looks like a very black hull passing us about 50meters on starboard… got beamed again.! They definately saw us…. and bully us into giving way altho it would be nice of them, being the big boys to show a little class and alter course to pass behind us. Since they never did alter course, we did… We know not to expect better of them working vessels in Asia already.

We really love the rocks at Aur and Duyong. See, how pretty.

0630hrs, my watch again… we do like 2hrs on and 2hrs off. Seems to work pretty well. I got this sunrise shift, which is exactly what I wanted. Hoping to catch a glimpse of jumping fishes at the instant sunlight touches down on the water. That was a experience that I had last year and it was so natural and left me with a desire to see it again. I decided that when we are out to sea, I reserve all sunrise watches… I bully Doug into it anyway … Well, this time, I am not so lucky. No jumping fishes, but some consolation, the rising sun was really round. Most of the other sunrises or sunsets that I have seen, usually the sun is partially obscured by clouds.

and Aur waters are beautiful! As usual

0930hrs, off the SW corner of Aur. We are looking for anchoring spots and discovering other parts of Aur that we havent seen last year. See, we really like Aur… more than Tioman really, but its too rustic and we cant be very comfy staying around here. We miss A/C and fresh foods… no, we dun fish and we dun put jumping prawns into a pot of boiling water and cover up quick.

1 happy kayaker among rocks at Aur

1130hrs, everywhere around Aur are pretty rocks or sandy beaches. We pick up a mooring on the Duyong side this time, as it seems to be a busy weekend for the dive operators on the Aur side.

Now time to cook a little something for brunch, and then time to relax and catch up on sleep… Yes, the midday heat almost killed us.

1 laid back kayaker in the cool shade among rocks at Aur

1600hrs, time to crawl out of the cabin and go for a little exploration. Things are starting to cool down around here and there’s even a little sailing breeze if we are going anywhere.

We found this little inlet among the rocks at Duyong. This is so serene.

1800hrs, done with rock grocking. Very pleased with ourselves for having done that. Its like 1 thing off our list. On the paddle back to Calliste, I went around to the other 2 sailboats moored off the resort. Socializing… sun down happy hour. Everyone’s bound for Tioman in a day or two.

30Apr 0330hrs, we left the mooring. Nobody came up to collect for our mooring… guess we were lucky once again. One of the sailboats paid RM20.

It was a very dark night. The moon had set and other than a few little lights for the various boats in the channel, we could see nothing… and then there were some flashes in the sky and we could make out the edges of the islands. We relied on my trusty old GPS and our tracks to help us get out of the channel.

Reosrts at Tioman… yawn… havent we seen that before…

0400hrs, we are out of the lee of Duyong and I wondered if we should turn back. Seems to be heavy weather brewing out there. Doug thinks it wont be too severe and nothing that Calliste couldnt handle. Ya, I know, but… ok… prepare for a boisterous ride over to Tioman. Here we go… Choppy 2 -3 meters wave coming in from starboard. Wind against current… so we got a good boost from the current and even tho we are bashing into the waves, we make good speed. Overall 3+ knots, sometimes 4… until we crash into a biggie wave, then we drop down to 1+ knots and slowly build back up.

Leaving Doug to helm the most boisterous bit with his stronger stomach, I went down to get the 1st snooze… Lying flat in the cabin while Calliste is being knocked around… wasnt too bad for me. Nah, I wasnt feeling queasy at all… but standing up and bracing in the cabin for a few minutes, I start feeling my stomach turned upside down…

0600hrs, my watch now. Doug was so nice, he got me up when we entered the lee of Permangol island. We have shelter from the island for about 1hr as we travel north. Well, its my favorite sunrise watch again, but it probably would be dissapointing because of the weather… kinda sleep drunk and a little drudging it… but got to be fair eh…

Yep, here we are. Snug as a bug in a rug at Tioman marina

0800hrs, Tioman insight and the seas are a little less boisterous now. Looks like the storm blew itself out and we didnt get any rain that we thot we might… yes, I was right about the disappointing sunrise… off watch, head straight for the bunk.

1000hrs, finally up again… and now have some energy. Now we can gawk at Tioman and resorts as we pass them. The seas are not quite settled yet, residue from the storm.. but I am surprise, we still have the current going with us… interesting…

1300hrs, we arrived and tied up temporarily inside the marina. Now to take care of the paperwork and be formally cleared into Malaysia. 1600hrs, we moved into a more permanent slip. 1800hrs, off to a cold beer with the gang at Captain Kerks. Yes! We have arrived!

my amazing US west coast journey-driving down south

Nice color, this cute little boat at Monterey has my name all over it...

We had 1 full week on the west coast… Yippee! … but we cheaped out by staying at Econo Lodge at Seaside near Monterey… yucks! Horrible place, altho cheap… I dun wanna be there ever again! Run by a group of India Indians, the place is relatively clean but largely un-maintained….

One of the residents at Monterey bay

Well… but we were there for checking out Doug’s storage and visiting with family and friends… okie… as aunty Bean would say.. very cute … … and after 4 dreadful days at Econo, we move to stay 1 night at a campground run by Doug’s long time friend. What a treat that was!

Somewhere between Big Sur and Carmel ... and the Pacific ocean

This is my 1st time at Big Sur and staying at a campground! A little background info about this area… so I heard… from Doug and his friends… this is a aggressively regressive community… they stood firmly against fast food chains… so you will not find any big american brand names south of Monterey until you get to Santa Barbara.

Sitting at the edge... its a long way down

A spectacular coastline that is not tainted by the obnoxious golden arches… or anyone of those chains.. not even Walmart or Safeway or Starbucks!! Thats what I needed… a break from the temptation of cheap junk food and junk Coffee..

A wholesome breakfast at Deetjens' would set you up forever...

… and eat real food… I was told, you havent been to Big Sur if you havent got a breakfast at Deetjens’…

Our cozy room at Big Sur Campground

… and stay at the best cabin in a real 1st class campground! Wow! ..

Thats cabin 101...

Strong winds where blowing on our drive down to Big Sur Campground.. and just as we were visiting Don and Mieke, a tree fell and hit Don’s old place at the campground.. … shucks…

80mph wind touching down on Pacific ocean

No storm, just 80mph winds. .. this is definately unusual.. according to the locals.. It was just gusting out there.. and when balls of winds touch the ocean, it creates an area of spray and disturb water visible to the eyes. See this, was a wind landing spot…

High winds. Birds are grounded.

And see these gulls… do they look confused or what. They are obviously grounded for the day.

Doug at Paddington Cove...

Next on our plan after leaving Big Sur was to continue south to LA for the night, check in at Four Points hotel and return the car. Making some stops for sightseeing at Partington Cove and Morro Bay.

Me leaning on a rock... looks scary ...

On hindsight… some of my sitting on cliff edge or leaning over a rock… seems like dangerous business… Looks scary on picture, but it wasnt how I felt when I was there. .. strange ..

The Morro Bay rock and the estuary

Here the Morro Bay landmark! What else could it be! The lone rock sticking out … studies say that this is a volcanic cap… BTW.. this was Dougs’ stomping ground.

Not many beaches on this coast.

I just realize that there isnt much in beaches around this coast until you get down to Santa Barbara… Alot of cliff, rocks .. Some of the yellowish stone is low grade granite, and the green greyish stuff is unformed jade. According to Doug, if these green greyish stuff remained under earth pressure, it will compress and become jade in a matter of time. Too late, it surfaced and will not be jade anymore..

It was pretty much go – stop – go again … gawking stop really. The daylight was beautiful.. perfect for driving… . albeit too much wind… .. ok, by the time we made it to LA, we were pooped! … Naturally.

my amazing west coast journey- driving up north

Looks bad... is there a road thru to the other side...?

The final installment of my US 2011 trip. Yes, serious time lag between being there and writing being here. … been back for about a month now.

As seen on Google maps! I-8 and the green mosaic

Ok, so where was I? … In the final week of our travels, we drove from Arizona to San Diego on I8, passing thru some really spectacular mountain range passes. It was alot of uphill, downhill and rocks! … and sand dunes and fields of crops!

Its a great day for DUNE BUGGY TIME!

Right, so I was wondering… what kind of crops do people plant in arid deserty conditions in Arizona? … Just hay for feeding the cattle! Mainly that is. Some corn… maybe thats for feeding the livestock too… huge cattle farms that produces milk and beef needs lots of food for the cows … and really, the land probably doesnt produce enuf to feed them at all… so bales of hay were left out and about for them… I am just amazed at the scale of feed production as we drove hundreds of miles of no man farmland. No dwellings, just fenced up tall grass fields. This satellite pix tells it all.

Part of the mountain levelled for making the road

This is, literally, driving thru the green mosaic on I-8! And then continue on the dirty yellow desert…

And now, driving thru the mountains. These peaks are caused by platonic movements upthrust. According to Nuvi (our electronic guide), we went from no elevation to 4000ft to 2000ft and then 4000ft and then finally down to nothing again near San Diego. Driving thru a range like that was pretty weird… the mountain was not pretty, but it was awesome… at least it was to me.

Yawn... another marina area. ... Long Beach eh...?

Only in San Diego for a day, shopping at Long Beach marina area. Yes, boats and marine parts are always part of our journey… and we stopped for some authentic Mexican food too… at the Old’ Mexica . .. food always taste better when you see chefs making them… ya know its real fresh and the restaurant probably have a reputation for good food…

Chef preparing totillas at the window and diners sitting in line.. must be good eh?

Next, a slow ride up north to Monterey… where we did visiting with Doug’s family and friends… They happen to be pretty much scattered over this west coast side … so every where we go, we party, have lunches and dinners…

Doug request that I post No family gathering pictures … ok thats that…

 

 

Thanksgiving 2011

Sun rising over the desert..

Yes yes, that was like 3 weeks ago… but here are the pictures.. . Sorta have to finish where I left off…

The little mount is fully lighted by the morning sun.

We were at Arizona on that day and had no one to share a Turks … and no way to cook one ourselves with the limited kitchen in our motel room… so what do we do? Hit the roads!

Oh, BTW… the time stamp on the photos are SG time. I didnt switch to the actual time in AZ… okay its really not nighttime… got it!?

Thats when you finally see the sun...

I thought it might be good to see sunrise over the Canyons… a new experience for me I hope. … and it was freezing cold ! Really 36f! Well.. cold is fun too… for a short time it is anyway. …

So we get out for a little bit, then jump back into the heated car cabin and pheww……… yes, thats how I spend predawn… jumping in and out of the car…

Thanksgiving at the Chapel of Holy Spirit

Sunrise  over this high elevation hilly area is an interesting thing. You know its coming and you see the shadows of darkness being taken over everywhere around you. First you see the lighted up tip of a canyon, and you can use the line markings like a sundial. Finally the edge of light/darkness creeps towards you and viola ! you’re in daylight!

Me at the chapel.

Our destination is the famous church in Sedona… Divine intervention or just coincidence, I dunno, but here we are,  at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit on Thanksgiving. 

There are many homes/church around here, but this is the most distinguishable man-made structure amongst them.

Pets of the brothers at the Chapel...

We were almost the 1st visitors of the day.. even the little church shop was not yet opened. Spent a good hr enjoying the beautiful crisp morning weather, golden glow and red earth and serenity inside the Chapel.

Plentiful harvest. Cactus apple... i think they are edible.

These are Cactus apples. They are everywhere along the path. I wonder do people eat them… really…

These Chipmunks are regulars at the feeding stone. I think the brothers throws a handful of seeds to them every morning.

The mansion.

And there was this really obnoxious mansion by the foot of the Chapel. Hmmph! And everyone who visits the Chapel will definately not miss seeing it..

2 meanings to this. Everyone cant miss seeing it, and nobody should miss seeing it! HmmPH!

Did I tell you about that obnoxious mansion!

Ok, its still early. Barely 10am when we decided that we’ve seen enuf around here.. so whats next…? Drive by Oak creek? We hear that its really beautiful…

Its really yellow and white around Oak Creek

And it didnt disappoint. This is really beautiful country, totally not like a desert! Pine trees and a creek. Fast flowing in some areas. Driving is gorgeous around here.

Whitish cliffs at Oak creek.

Plenty of yellow against white cliffs… its amazing that Sedona and Oak creek are so near, yet they look so different that they feel so far…

…. and for some reason, I like white cliffs better than red cliffs.. .   … and autumn colors better than arid evergreen!

Arizona scenic drive

Thats one of the mountains... and a view for sale...

What else is there to expect from a scenic drive in Arizona other than the grand view of the canyons? Lakes… or are they oasis in this high desert?

One of the many beautifully sculpted faces

Just 1hr drive away from our hotel at Chandler is the scenic drive thru Tonto National Park. We didnt wanna do another full day drive out anywhere, just a short invigorating one… so this is it. Hopefully we’ll get a short hike along some trails…

Our comfortable ride up on the scenic route

Driving along I88, a curvy uphill road towards Roosevelt dam… ( we didnt actually get to Roosevelt dam). We stop at the launching area for Dolly the Steamboat.. thats a boat not a Chinese feast! BTW, theres a marina and some very short trails among the cactuses…

Another way to ride the scenic route.

We were not the only ones looking for a nice scenic drive thru the mountains. Recreation comes in many forms. Riding must be fun around here… but colder… I guess if dress appropriately, its no biggie…

From a scenic viewpoint stop. Thats dolly making her rounds.

Lakes are not usualy natural in these areas.. me thinks. A series of dams trapping the water from the mountains, and then regulating the flow and forming a lake for recreation and is also a reservoir for the people. Sometimes, dams are electric generators and thats another plus for green renewable energy.

Er... something that I found under a shelter...

Air in the park is certainly fresher… I wonder why.. Its great for hiking and even just hanging out around here clears the lungs from the usual city contaminants. .. Everybody should do this more often. Around here, people really do enjoy using the park and facilities. The amazing thing is that park users are really considerate to the natural environment and do their part to not pollute … just the occasional trash among the bushes.. There are some idiots in every society… I guess.

Flowering non-desert plant...

Some greener trees do thrive around the lake… me thinks they are not native, but ornamentally planted later. Immediatly away from the lake are the desert scrubs and cactuses… Heres something that is flowering nicely… but probably not native.

A marina in this huge reservoir... something for the future SG lifestyle

Oh here we are, at the launching area of Dolly the Steamboat… I like that name. .. No picture of here cos shes out and about. $20 for a ride, seems like a good way to spend an hour… but we are going to find a walk to somewhere..

Lake and marina at 2000ft above sea level

There’s plenty of room everywhere to spread out, walk and so much to see.. Thats the marina from across the road and under the bridge… Only small boats allowed in here… and shallow bottom sailboats…

Thats all for a short break relaxing trip… while we prepare for the next big one. ..

My Grand Canyon adventure

On the way to the Canyons, just starters

For anyone with a weak heart condition and have a need to see the one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon… probably better to take a ground tour package.

Passing by some really steep cliffs. This is the Grand Canyons.

Thats not for people like us tho.. the Canyons inspire people to want see it differently…. aerial view of the Canyons look spectacular on postcards! Our options, take a package on a Cessna, or a package on a air glider, or helicopter. … how about US$200 each for 1hr ride over the Canyons.. Nah, we are too cheap to do that…

Out of the arid soil grows some barrel cactus.

So driving was a cheap alternative, finding a exciting spot on a map and head out! And enjoy the Canyon view all the way to the Colorado river. Yes, we are water people. We will always be looking for a way to get close to any body of water… and wasnt the Canyons carved by million years of running water that is now the Colorado river?

Thats how small I feel about this.

Alright, this is going to be a 5hr drive up and then another 5hr back… Daylight is short in November and temperature drops rapidly at dusk. We need to start early and find the spot we wanna find… we could find water in many spots, but seeing a lake is not the same as seeing the waters that carves the Canyons. So we are on a adventure to see the Canyons in the making.

Thats a path down to Lake Mead.

Thats me at our pitstop, enjoying the view of Lake Mead. I thot, maybe I could walk down that path and feel good about being here, but nope, I feel the utmost need to find the river that carves the Canyon. Onward and forward!

Our GPS "ladies"... Garmin vs Magellan

And we have our brand new Garmin Nuvi and the Magellan that came with the Hertz car to guide us to this place. Lets see whos better… altho we are leaning towards the sexier Nuvi the moment she arrived. … after the trip, its confirmed, “Money-Penny” was out of job. … and Nuvi is our girl!

The unpaved road to Colorado river, Grand Canyon

I own up to leaving with not enuf prep. I guess complacency sets in when one is in the USofA. Just stop anywhere and pretty sure theres a Macd, Subway, gas station and what else do you need, sure you can find it. Thats what I thot… So our food are chips, salsa and junk… .. yes, and we were not dissappointed by the variety at all. They even got Safeway groceries in Kingsman town. Its a big town, stop in it before going further. After that, not much for food choices.

The Colorado river and the new cliff

We knew that we would be driving this delicate little Toyota Corolla over unpaved road for like 2 miles before hitting water. We were relying on Google Maps satellite picture to get to the water. After quite a bit of jumping on the bumpy track, I was about to give up… then we see some caravan packed with rolled up rubber dinghy leaving. That is a sure sign that we are on track… right?

The river that we drove 6hrs to get to.

So we go on further, not before we chase down some dead end. .. by the time we made it, it was a unbelieveable 6hrs on the road. .. The feel of feet soaking in the Colorado river… priceless! The sight of the Grand Canyons from the river was unbelieveable! This river carved these mountains!

My foot! In the Colorado river!

BTW, the water was very cold… my foot cramped in under 1 minute.

Thats the great Majestic Canyons.

And the view of the Grand Canyons from the river, absolutely spectacular. The clouds parted and the sun came thru for a beautiful shot.

1 Joshua tree

We started driving just before sun starts setting, and merrily stopped for a few pictures of Joshua trees. We passed them on the way in, but didnt stop. Nows our chance and its even better than earlier. We the sun shinning at a lower level onto the Canyons, blue skies and all, made the trees look better.

Joshua tree and the Canyons!

… we didnt think it be pass 9pm by the time we made it back to our room. .. It was one tough driving day…

but I am greatful for a beautiful day to go see one of the greatest wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon and the Colorado river and even the Joshua trees. This is great!

Passing by the beautiful Pulau Aur

We departed Tioman 0015hrs for a cool overnight passage back to Singapore via P.Aur. We didnt actually plan to visit Aur in this trip, but it was highly recommended that we do so… we hear such raving reports on how beautiful Aur is, we just have to see it for ourselves.

It was a very windless night, the seas were very calm… We couldnt sail in this condition, but we did have a current in our favor. Motoring at 1800rpm, we made an easy 4-5kns, we got there in just 8hrs.

Entering the slot between Aur(right) and Dayong(left)

0700hrs, daybreak on the S China sea, we are about 5nm to Aur. At the moment when the sun broke thru the clouds and horizon, there were a flurry of jumping fish activity all around us. These are big mackeral like fishes jumping all around on our port side. I did wonder if they were dolphins, but nah, we could see the shapes of the jumping fishes very clearly.. .. then I wondered if they do this morning exercise daily..? The feeling of being there amongst them and watching them is quite undescribeable.. it was AWESOME!

Fishes swimming by our boat...

0830hrs, entering the gap between Dayong and Lang and then Aur. The rocks on Dayong and Aur are really quite spectacular.. and the waters are unbelieveably clear! We start seeing the bottom very clearly at 20ft.

Limited charting of Aur.

The top island is Dayong, the big island is Aur and the little one left of Aur is Lang… There are 3 resorts in the gap between Dayong and Aur. Resort 1 is nearest tot the jetty, where ferries brings holiday makers from the mainland to Aur. Resort 2 is on P. Dayong, directly opposite Resort 1. Resort 3 is further into the gap. It doesnt show on the map, but depth in the middle of the gap is 25meters at least. It shallows quite rapidly nearer to shore, so we do really have to keep an eye on the depth sounder.

Sunset on Calliste at Aur

We dont have good charts of this area.. using our very basic Bluecharts, depth sounder and common sense, we manage to find a small patch of sand to anchor in among coral heads.. not a ideal situation for anchoring… really should have pickuped a mooring.. but lets wait and see how it goes.

Another pretty picture of Calliste at Aur

1000hrs, Doug needs a rest.. and I need to stretch my paddling arms.. am too excited in this beautiful anchorage to get any sleep. Launched Yakuni and out to play on my own… only a short 3 mins paddle to the shallow waters near the beach around the 3rd resort, next flow with the current down towards the 1st resort and gawk at all those beautiful rocks, marine life, beaches and coconut trees.

Oh wow, that was so fun. Now, whats over at the 2nd resort? Crossed the gap in just 10 mins, paddled up and then back down towards Calliste.. check out the restaurant and chalets… looks like quite a resort, but its Friday noon and nobody is around… all so quiet in all 3 resorts, a skeleton crew goes about preparing for the busy weekend.

Tiny snails on a rock

Looks like there are plenty of moorings around and available for us.. Can see the huge blocks and chains at the bottom, a reassuring sight.. yes, we really should move to a mooring. … saw a beige colored mooring ball with a haysack color thingy attached to .. just about 10meters from it… the mooring moved… ! and slowly glided away and into the water! What was that!!! ?? Was it a Dugong? … Oh WOW! That was so cool!!

Shallow waters near to the resorts on Aur

1300hrs, back to Calliste. Sun is getting too hot now, time for lunch anyway. We were just hanging out in back and having lunch.. a nice breezy day, feels alot less hot and stuffy than in Tioman.. I really do have many reasons to like Aur better.. really!

Sea cucumbers hanging out in the shallows of Aur..

.. something large is moving in the water .. about 20 meters on our starboard.. I point out to Doug… its like a dark shadow just under the water surface.. we watch and watch and… out pops a head! Its a TURTLE!! Then it dive away… no time for a pix… DRATS!! At least, this time, its a positive identification and we both saw it.. but I think the beigy thing that I saw earlier is different…

Looking out at resort 3 on Aur

 

1600hrs, we are pointing in a rather usual position… a sign that our anchor chain is fouled around some coral heads… time to shop around for a better anchoring spot.. Doug prefer anchoring to picking up a mooring… After 2hrs of moving up and down, left and right between the 3 resorts… no luck. So back to the same old place and this time, we are picking up a mooring. Always better to ask the locals for which is available for us… if you dont want to upset anybody. We were pointed to the new blue mooring near to the dive tank refill platform… we saw them putting it in earlier in the day… well, it’ll be fine. We are not expecting any bad blow in the next 24hrs… fingers crossed.

Postcard perfect picture!

Day 2 0830hrs, launched both kayaks. I kept talking about my solo expedition whole of the night, and I bugged Doug all night to go paddle with me the next day… .. I am sure he’ll enjoy it too.. 1st stop, short paddle to the rocks near the 3rd resort. Thats where the sea cumbers hangout.. and snails too.

Early morning daylight is great for postcard pictures! Look at the gentle blue sky, lush green palm trees, weathered grey rocks and shades of teal green waters.

Rocks on the left and rocks on the right...

Next stop, to the passage thru the rocks! I could hang out here all day!!

Currents run quite strongly between these islands, that makes the hydraulic actions very interesting among these rocks. Its undescribeable interesting to sit in a kayak and wait to see where the waters will bring you.

Thats Calliste! Shes so small among the rocks!

We had so much fun around the rocks! Seeing Calliste thru a pair of small rocks… and in 10secs of waiting… viola! A different view of Calliste … and the dive platform appears out of nowhere…. ! Optical illusions!

The crab are almost as big as Calliste!

Check out how big the crabs look! Oh wow!

Looks like Calliste is sitting unprotected from the NE… but for the time that we were there, it was not really too uncomfortable.. it surprised us.. really.

Alright, just 1 more picture of the beautiful waters of Aur…

Crystal clear emerald waters of Aur!

1600hrs, we left the mooring. We exited thru the narrow part of the gap, going for a circumnavigation of Dayong.. We see dive boats do that all the time, so we think we be fine… do as the locals… but follow the big boats, not the sampans…

Once out to the open, we started picking up a little wind, 2-10kns. Made it around Dayong to Lang in just 1hr. Alright, now for the long haul down to Singapore! Its gonna be a long night…

Last 2 days in Tioman

Day 5 0700hrs, join Terry and Anna at the ramp. We are going for short easy walk thru Berjaya to Paya, so says our friends… We didnt know how long a walk it was going to be… well, we are in for a surprise…

A very "feng shui" picture! Berjaya resorts.

Its only a short walk to the Berjaya resorts, the only difficulty being the 500m steep uphill walk.

The Berjaya resorts is about golf, beach, water sports… anything and everything that makes a great island resort experience is available here.

The more exquisite of Berjaya offerings, Shahzan Villas.

Check out this very feng shui picture! All 5 elements are here!

The whole property is very well situated in Tioman. Flats, hills, beaches, cliffs and a small waterfall, they have the opportunity to make the best use out of it. Using the natural slope and rocks, here on this hill is the very exquisite Shahzan villas. Access to the suites is by verticular, ..something like a cross between a cable car and a train. The blue thing on the right of this picture is the verticular…

Tat turtle santuary stone marker! So cute!

Anyway, being on the hill offers a spectacular view off the Tioman coastline. .. I imagine… cos I wish.. but I dun get to ride up and check it out for myself… wonder how much it cost for a weekend in a villa… hmm.. ?

Turtle recreation home.. but they are not home right now

A short walk thru the golf course brought us to the TAT turtle Sanctuary… I thot the stone marker is so old fashion and charming… cute!

And then the little hut.. was hoping to catch a turtle hanging out on a beach car .. but nobody is in at the moment.. turtles are not expected till Aug…

Paya resort chalets..

From this point, the walking becomes more challenging. We had to walk on the sandfly infested beach, cross a stream on a plank, trek uphill and downhill thru a dense forestation and rocks trail. This stretch is about 1hr of some difficulty.. quite tiring…

Our taxi back to Tekek

Then we emerge into daylight again, pass a little village, walk over 2 more bridges and viola, we are at Paya. We would never make it.. if not for our guides Terry and Ana… ..

… but we are not in good shape to retrace our track back to Tekek… we opted for the easy way out.. we 2 only, Terry and Ana is gonna walk back and enjoy the games room at the Berjaya…

Paya village... not the resort

So we ordered the taxi and then they start fixing it to take us back… not a very comforting sight… life in Tioman… The ride is 30rm per pax, and they did the trip for just 2 of us.. thats not bad. 

The idyllic Paya village.

BTW, Paya resort is pretty nice too. No golf, but lots of beach and watersports. .. and its next to the Paya village, a tiny little community but people seems to be nicer than those at Tekek… and no squeeching motorbikes and horns! Its much quieter and so much more relaxing around here.

Anyway, we had to wait… so I got us some T-shirt souveneirs, fried bananas aka “goreng pisang”, lemonade aka “limau ais”. Its a really pleasant little village.. nice…

Our ride back is only 15mins.. very fast and surprisingly not too wet. .. so we are back to our very warm boat.. 1300hrs.. time for afternoon siesta. .. zzz.. and we are too pooped for anything else… no partying tonight for sure..

A good looking sail in the marina

Day 6, we are getting ready to leave this evening. I found that cooking underway is not so fun. Much better to be prepared ahead of time, if possible. Spent the morning preparing food that we be eating underway. Ginger fried rice is one of the best 1st sea meals.

A pretty tanbark sail raised in the marina, a sure invitation for pictures. They are going nowhere, just airing out the sails..

Thats Calliste at Tioman marina

Day 6 aft, spent 2hrs running around, looking for the harbour master, customs and immigrations. Pooped already! but at least thats done. Last minute shopping for dinner, next day lunch, eggs and more beer.

We are planning a late evening departure. If we leave 2300hrs, we should make it to Aur around 0800hrs next day at just 4.5kns. .. Okay, we overslept a little bit.. and we actually left 0015hrs…