I was worried when I got to Australia…I was being picked up from the airport by Helen, my step third cousin once removed (or something like that!) but we’d only spoken on Facebook so I was worried that I wouldn’t recognise her or that I’d given her the wrong information. Luckily those worries were quashed immediately as I saw a familiar face smiling at me as I exited the doors and entered Australia!

We got in the car to head home but not without a stop to the Bottle-o. Now I know that Australia is expensive but it was TEN POUNDS for six bottles of beer!! Luckily they were delicious and just what I needed!

My first day in Perth, Helen took me downtown to show me around. We took a stroll around the riverside area, London Court made me feel a closer to home then we headed to the pub (which made me feel even closer to home!!) to watch the Rugby World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand. The atmosphere was really good and there was a good mix of fans for both teams but judging by the celebrations after the game, I would definitely say there were more English supporters!My first day in Perth, Helen took me downtown to show me around. We toThe atmosphere was really good and there was a good mix of fans for both teams but judging by the celebrations after the game, I would definitely say there were more English supporters! We even met a random guy from Bromsgrove!!

The next day we popped to the shops – I had to go to Kmart as I’d promised Erin from Brisbane that I would head to Kmart as soon as possible! She was right in her assumption that I would love it! We then did a bit of food shopping in Aldi and Woolworths!! I got very excited about the latter, though it was quite different to the ones we had – they didn’t even have pick n mix!! Even though it was 35, Helen treated me to my first roast dinner in two months! We had roast pork with proper crackling and we literally picked some of the veggies from the garden – it was perfect!

I had an early start the next day, I’d booked myself onto a day trip to the pinnacles, a group of limestone formations in the Nambung National Park, about 200 km north of Perth. We weren’t heading straight there though; we had a couple of exciting stops on the way.

First we headed to Caversham Wildlife park where we had a guided tour which included meeting the wombats, koalas and feeding the kangaroos. The kangaroos were my absolute favourite part, they were so fluffy! One of them even touched noses with me (which I’m taking as a kangaroo kiss!)

Next, we headed to the Swan Valley where we got to sample some of the areas famous … including chocolate, chocolate liqueurs and wine as well as having lunch at a vineyard. Then we headed on to The Pinnacles. The limestone structures were really interesting, there were some that towered over us, others that had “sunk into the sand” and they went as far as you could see.

On the way back to Perth we stopped off for some sandboarding. It was soooo much fun!

The next day I was up early again, this time I was taking a river cruise on the Swan River before heading over to Rottnest Island to go and meet the quokkas! I’d also booked an additional treat for myself – a trip on a …. To go whale watching. When we got on the boat, after the safety announcements, they warned us that they hadn’t seen any whales for the last couple of days and that it was coming to the end of the season but that they would do their best. Well, their best was definitely good enough! We saw four whales, two mums with their babies (who were massive!) It was absolutely amazing to see these animals so close up, I couldn’t believe how big they were! At one point one of the mums even swam towards the boat so we could get a closer look – apparently, it’s really common as whales are really curious so they want to get a better look too!

I spent the afternoon stalking another kind of wild animals – the quokka! Quokkas are marsupials (so they have pouches) and are found on the islands off the coast of Western Australia, the most famous of which is Rottnest. Rottnest was actually named after them as when the island was first explored, the sailors mistook the quokkas for giant rats so Rottnest actually comes from Rat-nest. As there are no natural predators on the island, the quokka population has flourished and as they aren’t scared of humans, they’re really friendly. There are even guidelines on how to take the perfect selfie with them (and also to protect the quokkas by not frightening them etc)

The weather changed over the next couple of days, Wednesday was very rainy but after Helen had finished work, Caz (her sister) came over and we braved the weather and headed to Scarborough beach. During a brief dry moment, I braved the cold and paddled in the sea! Then we headed for dinner….and what is the only appropriate dinner when you’re at the beach? Fish and Chips of course!! I’d been told I had to try fish and chips with chicken salt, which was nice but I think I’m happy enough with normal salt (sorry Australians!) and I also tried a “Chicko-roll” which is a bit like a massive spring roll, only battered and deep fried.

The next day the temperature really dropped – to TWELVE DEGREES. Let me tell you, 12 in Australia is different to 12 here. We have heating, they do not! I spent most of the day wrapped up, in bed, watching Harry Potter with a cup of tea waiting for the sun to come back!

My last day arrived but as I wasn’t flying out until the evening, I headed to Fremantle for the day. I started off by visiting the Fremantle Markets and then wandered over to the famous Little Creatures Brewery for a guided tour and tasting session. I was the only one on the tour so I got a one on one experience! I also got to try everything that was on tap! The most important thing that I learnt that day was that hops grown in the pacific region taste completely different to the ones that are grown in England and whereas I often find ales a bit too hoppy, even the hoppiest ones at Little Creatures weren’t too overpowering because the hops are much lighter in any case.

A little bit tiddly, I made it back to Helen’s in time to pack my bags and head to the airport – next destination The Philippines (after a 13 hour layover in Singapore airport!)

I got the early morning ferry from Gili T and waited for my driver to pick me up. Yes, my driver!! I had to get a driver as I was heading to a tiny village in the middle of Lombok as I was doing my first workaway, volunteering at a foundation for teenagers whose family can’t afford to send them to university.

The foundation is called BC Brightcourse Foundation. It was set up by “Mr Tony” because his family were not able to send him to university. The main focus is teaching English but they also have daily hospitality lessons as well. Mr Tony then uses his contacts in the hospitality business to help the students find jobs when they graduate from the foundation.

When I arrived at the foundation (which is in Mr Tony’s house) I was greeted by at least 10 of the students who came over to introduce themselves and help me with my bags. I was then offered some tea and we sat down to have a chat. Mr Tony arrived back from taking the previous volunteer to Kuta and showed me the timetable and asked if I wanted to take a nap before the afternoon lesson…well I can’t resist a nap! Two of the students grabbed my bags and led me the 5 minutes walk away to the local villagers house that I would be staying at. The volunteers used to stay in the school but after the bad earthquake in 2018 the room is no longer safe to inhabit.

I met Miss Husnul and I was shown to my room with (ManU bedding) dropped my stuff off and she showed me the rest of the rooms. The bathroom had a squatter toilet (something I’d become accustom to by this point) but the shocking thing was there was no toilet paper and no bin….I would later be told that you always have to pass things to people with your right hand – this was the reason why! You had to take care of yourself after bodily functions with your left hand!!

Then I went back to my room to do what I was recommended and have a nap!! The bed was quite uncomfortable but I found if I lay on my left side, diagonally across the bed it was ok to sleep on! One thing I noticed during my time there were the after effects of the earthquake on the room as there were cracks all around the edge of the ceiling.

After my nap, I went back to school for the 4 o’clock lesson. The big thing that I hadn’t realised was that I was teaching the lesson…not helping out, actually standing in front of this group of children and young adults to impart my wisdom upon them! As this was quite such a surprise, I had no lesson planned! I went with my gut (which was doing somersaults) and decided to do a lesson on feelings, explaining that I felt nervous so we can all talk about what we feel!

There was a long break between finishing this class and the next one at 8pm which is when the students would perform some if their chores, pray and sit and talk to me! I also had dinner during this time each night. The food was delicious, always came with rice(!) and was to be eaten with my right hand!

Each day consisted of three lessons:

• 9.00-12.00 (with a 30 minute break)
• 16.00-17.30
• 20.00-22.00

The morning was normally for hospitality related things. Then the afternoon and evening lessons were pure English lessons. Some of the afternoon lessons included children from the village who also wanted to learn English. This was great but posed a problem because it meant the abilities were wide reaching and some of the younger girls didn’t want to join in with some of the more interactive parts of my lessons!

Over the week I prepared a variety of English lessons. I used my Spanish lessons for inspiration and chose a subject and grammatical for each lesson eg household items and adjectives or daily routine and simple past tense. We also had a couple of less structured lessons like when the electricity went out we all sat in a circle around a candle and introduced ourselves and spoke about our dreams for the future. Another night (when I was super tired!) they had a debate about whether homework is a good thing or not!

Mr Tony had to go to Jakarta for a meeting with the Indonesian government as he had put in a request for funding and the application had been pre-approved. It was his first time on a plane and he was super nervous but also so excited. He showed me his presentation which explained the story so far, where he sees it going in the near future and his end goal for the program.

With Mr Tony not being there I often had to rely on the students to tell me if they were meant to be doing something in particular. One morning, a student said we had to stop the lesson and go somewhere else…I had a vague recollection of Mr Tony saying that we had to go somewhere else at some point so I jumped on the back of one of the boys bikes and off we went!

It turns out we were going to another school that is ran by one of the former BC students and his wife (they met at BC and now they have a BC baby who can already say some words in English!) It’s in a village maybe 10 minutes away. Some people from either the government or the media were coming because they wanted to take a picture!!

At the weekend, the students get some downtime so that they can visit their families. One of the students, Harist, had invited me to a celebration at his village and then wanted to take me to the nearby waterfalls for him and a couple of other students to practice being a guide.

Now one thing I haven’t mentioned until now is how much they tried to feed me! I kept having to apologise because I just can’t eat a whole pasta-bowl sized bowl of rice plus all the extra tasty accoutrements! Well this Saturday morning was the worst for it…when we arrived at Harist’s village we went straight to his grandparents house. We sat down on the porch and they brought us tea, coffee and a tray of four different types of snacks. To be polite, I tried one of each.

Next, we went to his mums house. Before we sat down, Harist asked if I had a small note of rupiah and I did so he said to follow him. I followed him into a dark room where a small boy (his cousin) was lay on the floor sleeping…with no trousers on – it was at this point I realised that I was at a circumcision celebration!! I had to put the money into his hand without waking him up (as if he wakes up he’ll cry, I was told!) then we retired to the porch and out came another tray of the four different snacks. I managed a small piece of the cake, whispering to Harist and the other students that I was already full!

Well, if only I’d have known!

Five minutes later lunch was brought out! Three different bowls of food, one chicken, one Jack fruit and one beef (all traditionally served on special occasions) with of course rice! I whispered to Harist that I didn’t think I could eat it but he said I had to as if not it would be rude…so there I was at 10.15 in the morning trying to shovel down this celebratory lunch. I’d been awake for only a little over two hours and in that time had eaten noodles and fried egg for breakfast, all of those bloody snacks and now this! Well I managed half a bowl and nobody noticed that I didn’t eat much so I think I got away with it!

Then we continued onto the waterfalls. We walked up and down for a long time through a forest until we got to the most beautiful waterfalls. We stayed there all afternoon hanging around in and out of the water

On the way back, I took a video on the back of the bike which just shows how beautiful the area is. Also, it made me realise how different these teenage boys seemed to those back home- if someone told me to get on the back of an English, 17 year old boys motorbike I would literally laugh in their face but here it felt safe and normal!!

The day after, another of my students wanted me to go to his village as his brother was getting married! I was have only white person to have been to the village and I have never felt more like a famous person! People were queuing up for selfies and if I was talking to a group I’d turn around and a group of children would have gathered behind me! To celebrate the wedding they had hired a band and dancers. They came with a literal wall of speakers and the volume was turned up so loud that you could feel the bass! The girls do a dance and then men go up with money and try and dance with them while the women try to grab the money – it wasn’t really what I was expecting within such a strict Muslim country! Then the bride and groom wanted to have a picture with me before they left for a procession with the band and the dancers through the local villages

After we left the wedding, Mr Tony took me to where they’re building a replacement school where one day he also hopes to have some cabins for tourists so that the students can practice their hospitality skills on site! They also have a lot of fruit and vegetables growing in the area and one of the students, Dan, shimmied up a palm tree to pick some fresh coconuts!

My last day started off with sad news, one of the teachers from the other foundation had lost her father that night. All of the students, Mr Tony’s family and myself went to pay our respects and take some gifts (which is the custom there) The girls in the class took the opportunity of me wearing a headscarf for a quick selfie when noone was looking!

Afterwards, as it was my last day, some of the students took me to a lake in the middle of nowhere. The journey there can only be described as off reading – there was one point where we were going along a dirt track where we hit a bump and I actually bounced off the seat for a second! It was completely worth it! We arrived at the lake and there was only us and a group of three locals (all jumping into the lake from a random tree – something that I was not brave enough to do!) It was absolutely stunning and we stayed there for a few hours before we had to go back for the boys to pray before lessons.

Then I was off to Kuta in the south of Lombok. A driver from the village was taking me and one of the students,  Anto, came with me to practice being a tour guide as we stopped at a traditional village on the way. They dressed me in a traditional costume and I had a go at weaving on one of the traditional looms!

When I arrived at my hostel in Kuta, I said goodbye to Anto and the driver and made full use of the modern facilities (toilet paper and a shower!!!)

The next day I rented my very first scooter and went down to the beach. It turns out driving a scooter isn’t too difficult however what was difficult was following directions.. so I got to see a lot more of Kuta than I’d planned!

What followed was a couple of drama free days…except when it was time to leave. I got an uber to the airport and went through to check in my bag…only to find out that I was a day early!! Better to be a day early than a day late I suppose! Luckily my hostel had space so I headed back and spent one more day in Indonesia before trying again (more successfully) the next day!

By this point of my travels, everytime I had mentioned that I was going to Indonesia, everyone had told me I needed to do the Wanua boat trip! Wanua is a company that offers boat trips from Flores to Lombok, through the Komodo National Park, visiting the beautiful islands and hopefully showing off the wildlife that the park is famous for.

Sara (the Italian girl I met first in Cameron Highlands (and then in KL and Kota Kinabalu)) and I had agreed to do the boat trip together. I flew from Bali and she flew from Java but as fate would have it, her flight was late and mine was early so we were both at baggage claim at the same time. It might sound strange but seeing Sara at the airport in Flores felt like I was being reunited with an old friend that I’d not seen in years! We left the airport and managed to find some (only slightly dodgy) motorbike taxis to take us to our hotel. We dumped out stuff, went to check in for the boat trip and headed for a pizza (well when you’re with an Italian, what can you do?!) before an early night as we had a very early morning!

When we got to the boat we headed straight upstairs to see our bedroom for the next four days and three nights. We chose the deck option which meant we were on mattresses on the upper deck with the majority of the rest of the boat trippers!

Day 1 – Rinca Island

Rinca Island is the island between Flores and Komodo islands and was an amazing place to start our Komodo adventure! Within minutes of being on the island we were greeted by the huge beasts that are the komodo dragon! Our local tour guide for the island explained that they like to hang out next to the kitchen cabin as they like the smell of the chickens cooking! We embarked on a small hike of the island climbing up to the top of a hill to see a beautiful view of the bay below us.

Pink Beach

Pink Beach really was pink! It sounds stupid but when I had seen pictures online, I thought that it wasn’t possible for a place to actually look like that, turns out it did! We spend some time swimming in the sea and chilling out on the beach. At one point I got taken out by a wave and got dragged across some coral, cutting my back – yet another time the sea has tried to kill me, so I stuck to the beach for a bit after that!

Komodo Island

Komodo Island is what this whole trip is all about! Not long after the announcement that this island would be closed to tourists from the beginning of 2020 we rocked up to this amazing place. Just walking along the jetty we saw a Komodo Dragon walking along the beach. (Everytime I watch the below video I laugh, they look so funny when they walk!) The island is home to lots of other wildlife that we managed to get a glimpse of, including pigs and deer and of course got up close and personal to the komodo dragons!

Day 2 – Padar Island

We started the day with an early wake up call to go to Padar Island before sunrise to see one of the most famous views in Indonesia (it’s the cover of the lonely planet guide book) in all its glory. I gave up counting the steps but I can tell you there were a lot!! The view was worth every single one!

Middle of the ocean

We made an unchartered stop so that we could all take it in turns jumping into the sea from the boat, snorkeling and just generally enjoy the sea. The video below proves that I did in fact jump from the boat into the sea, risking my life (but it doesn’t show that every other single person on the boat had jumped in before I got the guts to do it to!)

Gili Banta

Now I accidentally left my phone on the boat for Gili Banta but it’s a super tiny island that you can walk from one side to the other in about a minute and a half! I think this video I took from the boat shows you just how small this paradise island was and Sara took the photo of me on the swing to prove that I actually stepped foot on the island!

Day 3 – Moyo Island

We then had a super long boat ride to Moyo island, it could have been anywhere between 14 and 17 hours but the wind was on outside so we managed to make quite a quick passage. We passed the time by playing cribbage which was so much fun as I’ve not played for years – shout out to Jake for bringing his crib board and cards!

We were visiting Moyo island mainly to see a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately, so were 4 other boat loads of people which diminished the excitement of the stop somewhat but then we did some snorkeling on the beach and I made friends with a crab!

Gili Bola

We spent that evening having a beach party, in a makeshift bar that only opens for the Wanua trips. We danced the night away on the beach, eating octopus that had been cooked on a camp fire meters away and having a few chilled beers! Then it was back to the boat for the last nights sleep

A few of us hardcore people managed to wake up early enough to go back to the island to see the sunrise. We hiked up to the top of the highest point on the island to get the best view of the sunrise. The problem was coming back down…! The path was made of very slippery little stones and a lot of dust! Luckily Sara was wearing her walking boots so she held my hand all the way down as we did a sideways crab walk so I didnt slip over my flip flops!

Then it was time to head back to dry land (at least until the afternoon) The boat docked in Lombok island and we embarked on a minibus trip firstly to the capital of Mataram for lunch and then onto the Gili Islands

My flight arrived at stupid o clock in the morning (2.30am) but luckily I’d pre booked a private transfer through my hostel so I was whisked the 2 and a bit hours away to Amed, an area on the east cost of Bali, away from the crowds.

After quite a sleepy day and a trek to the nearest atm that had cash in (about 40 mins walk in 32°) I met some lovely people so we decided to go down to the beach to watch the sunset over the volcano followed by a super cheap dinner of nasi campur!

The next day me and a German girl from my hostel walked along the beach to a cove known for its excellent snorkeling.

Then it was time for another stunning sunset, this time from our hostel

The next day I was picked up early and to go to Ubud – the spiritual heart of Bali, of eat pray love fame. Well let’s just say things have changed since Julia Roberts was there! I jumped on a motorbike taxi with my big bag on my back and my little one in between his legs as we tried to weave around the massive traffic jam that Ubud is to make it to my hostel! The hostel itself was gorgeous, looking over a valley of lush greenery! I wandered back into the town to mooch about the market and booked a tour for the next day.

The tour started with a visit to three temples, The Elephant Cave Temple, Rocky Temple and The Holy Spring Temple. The latter was closed to non locals due to a holy day but we were allowed to walk around the temple site just not into the holy waters.

Next we went to a local farm where they grow coffee, chocolate and spices. They showed us the different stages that they go through to get coffee and then there was a free tasting platter of both the coffees and chocolate!!

Then it was off up into the hills to get a good view of Mount Batur, arguably the most famous volcano in Bali and then to visit a rice terrace

The next day I was off to Sanur an area that is very common with Australian holiday makers and I did absolutely nothing! My hostel had a pool so I spent my time either in the pool or next to it! A few beers in the evening with my fellow hostel mates rounded off a very relaxing day and my time in Bali

Gili in Bahasa simply means island so while there are lots of gilis, the most well known are three islands off the coast of Lombok; Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trangawan (known simply as Gili T!) Gili T is the largest and has a reputation of the party island, Gili Meno is the smallest and most romantic island and Gili Air is somewhere in between! The islands are car free and the only way to traverse each island is by foot, bike or traditional horse and carts (the latter being super expensive!!)

As the transfer to the islands were included in our ticket with Wanua, Sara and I decided to go straight to Gili Air. We jumped off the boat and walked up the beach to the main street. As there were two of us, a hotel cost the same as a hostel so we were excited to have a taste of luxury for a few days!

Google maps told us our hotel was a 15 minute walk so we braced ourselves for the mid afternoon sun and heat and set off. Sara had thought it was strange as she was sure she had booked a hotel on the beach but when the map showed us the location it was right in the centre of the island. Well when we arrived at the location there was no hotel to be found. With a little bit of help from a local man, maps me and a 30 minute walk, we found the real location!

Gili Air for me was all about relaxing, swimming in the pool, watching some Netflix and doing nothing! Because Sara’s trip was a bit shorter than mine she had to move on before me so we spent our last evening together watching the sunset and going for a fancy meal to say farewell to my Italian sister!

A couple of days later I got the ferry to Gili Meno to have a wander around the island, see the turtle sanctuary and take a snorkeling trip that would take me to Gili T. The Gilis are famous for their marine life and rightly so we saw turtles, loads of colourful fish and coral, a ship wreck and the famous sunken statues.

When I arrived at my hostel in Gili T, I met Simon from Colombia. We went to get some food from the street food market and decided to spend the next day renting bikes and cycling around the island and then he went out for one drink (which obviously turned into many!) whilst I spent the evening catching up with the family, the perfect time to as Josh was back from uni for the weekend!

Needless to say, the next day I felt fantastic compared to Simon’s not so fantastic hungover self! He rallied and we went to rent the bikes! Now, one thing they don’t tell you is how difficult riding a bike through sand is and how many of the paths are actually just sand!! It was great though and we found some beautiful, deserted beaches.

That evening we went to a cinema on the beach. We settled into our beanbags, ordered a couple of pizzas to share and watched Aladdin, the perfect way to end my relaxing break from travelling(!) in the Gilis!

After a horrific nights sleep caused by a washing machine that took SEVEN hours to wash and dry my clothes and a very unfortunate stomach upset caused by a dodgy Indian restaurant where they microwaved my chicken – I shovelled down some immodium and embarked on my 13 hour bus journey to Brunei’s capital Bander Seri Bagawan. The journey went south through Sabah, crossed into Brunei, back into Malaysia but this time Sarawak and a final border crossing into Brunei again. Drinking only water for fear that something bad might happen, I arrived at my hostel hungry enough to eat a horse. Horse was unavailable so I settled on a Burger King, which was just perfect and confirmed that my insides were normal again!

That evening I managed to skype Grandma on the iPad that belongs to her care home. This was the first time Grandma had experienced this which lead to a couple of humerous moments, like when she offered me a cup of tea or when she said I looked tired and asked if I wanted to have a lie down on her bed! Luckily mum was on hand to remind her (over my laughter) that I was in Brunei so she wouldn’t be able to give me a tea and I definitely couldn’t lie down on her bed! As I said, it was Grandmas first time using the iPad which provided some very arty camera angles!

The next day I set off to do some sightseeing, I went to the famous mosque and the museum about the sultan.

That was pretty much all Brunei had to offer (without a car or a very expensive tour) so it was lucky that I was heading to the airport in the early afternoon and off to my next country!

The capital of the region is Kota Kinabalu (KK). My flight landed around 9pm and I took a grab to my hostel in Gaya Street dubbed the Chinatown of Sabah due to the many Chinese businesses in the street.The mid autumn festival was still going on (I think it’s something to do with mooncakes but I’m not sure if I’m getting my wires crossed) so there was a street food market all the way down the street and different performances at each end including some fire breathing!!

As I’d already eaten as a way to make it through my spare hours in Singapore airport, I just had a wander and then headed to bed as I was meeting up with Sara again (we met in Cameron Highlands and then in KL) at stupid o’clock in the morning (7.30)!!OK, well I didn’t quite make 7.30 but I got to the bus station to meet Sara at 7.45 (not bad for me!) Our bus was meant to leave at 8 but didn’t actually leave until about half past!After a very bumpy two hour minibus ride, we arrived at our destination of Kinabalu National Park, home to Mount Kinabalu – the highest mountain in Malaysia.You can climb the mountain but it’s for proper mountaineers, so not for us! Instead, we settled for hiking one of the jungle treks and we only got the tiniest bit lost once!

Then we headed to the botanical gardens to learn about the flora and fauna that call the area their home.

Afterwards we headed back to the park entrance to find some lunch before waiting by the side of the road for our minibus to pick us back up on the way past!Once back in KK I bid Sara goodbye as she was off to Brunei the next morning and I went to see some of the local sights like the famous mosque on the seafront

I took a walk around KK and visited the Filipino market before coming back to Gaya Street for some street food, this time in the form of a fried bun which was delicious!

The next day it was time to head to Sepilok. You can fly to Sandaken and take a 45 minute transfer or you can take a 6 hour bus…I opted for the cheaper option of the bus! The roads were a bit bumpy and very windy but apart from that it was quite a good journey, they even had the new Aladdin film on, though every bump caused the DVD to jump so I gave up on watching that pretty quickly!The bus doesn’t technically stop in Sepilok, so they just drop you off on the side of the road at the junction that does go there. By this point it was 6.30 and dark… I got my trusty google maps out and saw it was a 45 minute walk 🙈 I’d read online that there would be people waiting where the bus drops you off so when a man approached me to ask where I yang staying I realised I was saved! A £2 taxi journey and 10 minutes later I arrived at my very swanky accommodation, a resort don’t you know!That evening I met a local guide who was staying at the resort as he was picking up a new tour group the next morning. It was fantastic to meet someone who knew so much about the area. He spoke to me about his village, his work and about Sabah and Borneo in general. He spoke about how the palm oil industry isn’t nearly as destructive as the West make out, in fact Malaysia have been working on cross breeding the trees so they get more oil from less land making palm oil less destructive than a lot of other natural oils, which I found very interesting.Most importantly he told me that DAME JUDY DENCH stayed in that very resort when she was filming her recent ITV documentary as he had met her there! As an aside, definitely worth a watch!The next morning, I woke up ridiculously excited for the day ahead. I was going to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

There are around 60-80 orangutans living wild within the protected area. Most are orphans rescued from logging, deforestation and the pet trade.The centre is open from 9-11 and 2-4 with feeding times at 10 and 3. There is no guarantee of seeing the orangutans but they know they can go to the feeding platform for free food!I arrived at the feeding platform at 9.45 and the trees soon started to rustle with two orangutans who made their way to the platform before the food arrived!

It wasn’t just the orangutans, there were plenty of macaques who knew all about the free food! It was amazing to watch and be so close to the animals.Well if I thought that was close, I had no idea! After the feeding an orangutan decided to come and see what all the people were about. She climbed down a tree and onto the viewing platform. I have to praise the staff here as there were a lot of tourists that had to get back to a safe distance and they handled it perfectly.

After all that excitement, it was time to leave the park for their lunch break. Across the road is the Sun Bear Conservation Centre so I followed pretty much all the tourists there! The guides were amazing and could spot bears really far away and had some telescopes set up so you could see them. There were a few that were close to the viewing walkway too!

Then it was back to the Orangutan Sanctuary for the afternoon session. I started by going to visit the nursery. This is where the most recently rescued orangutans are looked after and they were just like children, playing with each other and play fighting! You watch from behind glass, which was actually quite nice because the room had aircon!

Then I thought I’d try my luck back at the main feeding platform again. For about half an hour there were only macaques taking advantage of the food but then a mother carrying her baby appeared!! Closely followed by a BIG male

I can’t express just how lucky I feel to have been able to see these beautiful animals so close up.The next day it was time to head to the jungle to a nature lodge on the Kinabatangan River.

Now it turns out neither my phone nor my crosstour (fake GoPro) are made for nature photography so what were clearly specific animals to the eye turn into blurry blobs on my photos!I was staying at the lodge for 2 nights and within that we got 4 river cruises, 2 night walks and a day walk through the jungle (as well as all of our meals!Over the course of the time we saw

• Orangutans
• Probiscus monkeys
• 
• Long and short tail macaques
• Gibbons (which are so rare that they’re only sighted two or three times a year)
• Crocodiles
• 
• Hornbills
• Snakes
• Tarsier
• 
• Lots of insects and creepy crawlies!

I also took part in a cooking class where we learnt to make Tuna salad (ceviche), Tuna soup and BBQ chickenThen it was time to go back to civilisation! I got dropped off at Sandakan bus station and then got the (7 hour) bus back to KK as I was heading to Brunei the next day.

Well my early morning bus journey was going swimmingly all the way to the border…did you know electronic cigarettes are illegal in Singapore? I didn’t. Fun fact, I bought 4 months worth of electronic cigarette supplies to take me through to Christmas…I no longer have these supplies..

So when we get to the singapore boarder we have to take all of our bags off the bus and scan them before getting in the passport queue, fairly standard procedure. They say they need to look inside my bag and I know immediately they mean my ecig stuff, again fairly standard procedure. Normally, I just explain they’re ecigarettes and everyone laughs at the idea of an electronic cigarette and then we all go about our day. Not this time.

They put my nicotine paraphernalia in a box and ask me to follow them into a room and sit and wait. Eventually the man calls me over and tells me it’s “good news” I can enter Singapore and they’ll just dispose of my ecigarettes…

I will now mention that 4 months of electronic cigarettes cost about £100. So that’s a lot of money for them to dispose of for me. I asked if there were other options and they said I could take them back to Malaysia with me. My cogs start whirring and I come up with a plan to post the stuff back to mums rather than get rid of it.

I hop on the bus that goes between the two borders (which the bus driver didn’t charge me for) re-enter Malaysia and hop on the public bus to the nearest town. A bit of googling told me where the nearest post office was and the bus driver took me to it!!

Things were starting to turn around! The post office closes at 16.30 and I arrive at 16.20, perfect! Except when I said I wanted to send electronic cigarettes the lady had to check an email and then confirmed that they are not allowed to send ecigarettes in the Malaysian post. Hope was not lost, she ordered me a grab to a delivery shop who deal with TNT/DHL/etc. When I get to the mall in which the shop was located, I quickly find out that it’s not a real thing! Either it was a mall and it’s not any more or it’s not open yet.

I come to terms with having to throw away £100, leave the creepy, deserted mall and walk across the road (luckily) to the bus station to head back to Singapore, throwing my ecigs away in a bin as I walk past.

The rest of my journey was extremely straightforward. I paid £1 for my bus ticket which I was pleasantly surprised to find out took me all the way to Singapore and then it was just a 20 min ride on the metro to my hostel (and bed which was very much needed by this point!)

The next morning, after an excellent sleep I head out for the most exciting part of my trip – going to search for the house my grandparents used to live in 60 years ago!! I hop on the metro to Sembawang.

For anyone who enjoys That Mitchell and Webb look as much as me, it’s impossible to read that word without thinking and that’s numberwang!

The area that I was heading to was/is owned by the Navy. There were a couple of “no admittance to unauthorised personnel” signs on a few fences but I think it was ok to walk through the streets… A police car circled the block and passed me by three times but didn’t stop. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to out stay my welcome! I found the house but there was no sign of life and the gates were locked so I couldn’t go inside…but here are some comparison pics, slightly different angles but you get the picture! Grandma said the only difference looks to be that there’s now glass in the windows!

It was time to switch back to tourist mode! I hopped on the metro and went to Little India to look at the beautiful templea and street art.

A 20 minute walk through Chinatown took me back to my hostel for a water refill, a rest and most importantly wifi!

This wifi was pivotal in arranging my next excursion as I posted my pics on my story and my friend Erin who I met in penang commented that we had taken the same picture. We found out our hostels were only 10 mins away so we arranged to meet at her hostel and then head to Central Perk!!

After a catch up over a drink it was almost time for another farewell but not before we popped to 7-11 and found the best invention since sliced bread, sliced CAKE! It was unexpectedly delicious!!

I bid farewell and safe travels to Erin and headed to the iconic Merlion statue. Me being me, added to the fact I had no internet, I got lost and ended up in the F1 area that was set up as the event was beginning the next day. I had a nose and then found my way back to the merlion

A walk around the waterside took me across to Marina Bay where I took my place for the water/laser show, the first of my free shows for the evening. For the second, I went to Gardens by the Bay to watch the giant trees light up to music.

A quick metro ride took me back to my hostel and after the 28k steps I had accrued throughout the day I slept almost immediately!

The next day I was flying back to Malaysia, this time heading to Borneo. Soooo many people had told me how amazing Singapore airport was so I decided to go super early to make the most of it (see the waterfall, the swimmng pool, maybe catch a film at the cinema). I went on the metro and took the free bus to my terminal, checked in and went through security. It was at that point that I found out that terminal 4 doesnt have any links to the other terminals after you’ve gone through security…!! An afternoon of binging Netflix was anyway and then I was on my way to Borneo!

Another early morning bus ride took me to the smaller city of Melaka.I arrived a couple of hours before I was allowed to check in so I decided to go and have a wander to see what tourist sites I could find.

Well it turns out pretty much all of them are next to each other so within two hours I’d seen them all bar one!

I started off in the Red Square, this is where the Dutch administration was based in the Dutch colonial times.

Then I used both google maps AND maps.me to find the next place on my list (A’famosa) but instead ended up in a deserted area and the road they wanted me to take had a gate across with spikes on the top and a very big no entry sign…not what you want to see in 30° heat!

Even worse was that I then realised I needed to walk up a hill (that I later found out was St Paul’s Hill) to get back to the right area. The climb was made more fun by the addition of bin bags that I pretty much had to climb over when I got to the top. However, what goes up must come down so I took a leisurely stroll back down to see A’Famosa, the former Portuguese fortress

The next place on my list was Jonker Street but on my way there I happened upon one of the most random tourist attractions so far…an old train and plane combo, just sat in a park…

After that random pit stop, I made it to my intended destination of Jonker Street, the famous street in Chinatown

Then it was back to my hostel to check in. There was another British guy waiting so we had a chat and decided to share a grab together to go and see the mosque at sunset. After walking through the mosque we found a good place to sit on the rocks and watch the sun go down. Now the sunset wasnt so much a sunset as it was watching the clouds go dark but I got snap happy none the less…here are a selection!!

Dinner time!! We went to a hawker centre and had Nyonya Laksa and some satay chicken. Nyonya means woman, specifically from the descent of the original chinese settlers in the British straights settlements known as Baba Nyonya (Baba means man)

Then it was back to the hostel to draw a picture in the host’s guestbook before heading to bed in readiness for another early morning bus ride!

After a dozy five hour bus ride, we arrived in KL Sentral. Luckily a guy from my hostel in Cameron Highlands was on the same bus and staying in the same hostel in KL so I didn’t get lost, which made quite a nice change!The hostel was part of an Indian restaurant so I headed down for a dinner of masala dosa (or thosai as they call it in Malaysia)Then I planned to have a film night in bed…However I started thinking about my travel plans as Malaka had been added to my list of places that I wanted to visit which is in between KL and Singapore so I thought it would be better to continue down the coast to Singapore rather than zigzag. 3 hours and 2 spreadsheets later, I had a new plan for my next 10 days would get me right the way through to the jungle in Borneo!After all that hard work, I decided I deserved a beer. One beer…that’s how it all starts…Cut to me on bar street at midnight with the girls from my room. Luckily they were old ladies too and decided the club was too loud and suggested we go and find a bar where we can have a beer and talk!The next morning I joined their group again and we went to Batu Caves, the site of a hindu temple and shrine. (Oh and 272 colourful steps!)We returned back to KL and I bid them adios (they’re from Spain!) and went to look at the colourful streets in the area we were staying in, Jalan Alor. The area used to be a but dodgy so the government commissioned some street art in a bid to boost tourism and safety in the area.Then I walked over to Chinatown to meet my friend Karen, that I’d met in Penang. The two of us were then meeting my friend who I met in Cameron Highlands, Sara, at a rather interesting roof top bar. By day it’s merely a helipad but by sunset it’s an exclusive cocktail bar with 360° views of the city. Their one rule is that everyone must buy a drink in the bar before they’re allowed up…seems ok until you look at the menu and see the prices!! We were there for happy hour which meant you could get a cocktail for £6, that seems ok for a cocktail unti you realise that you can have a complete dinner for half of that! Other options were a pint of beer for £6 or a bottle of water for £5. Well you can guess which option we went for!Unfortunately with the haze caused by burning season in Indonesia, the sunset wasn’t quite a sunset but the views of KL in the dark were still spectacular.Sunset was at 7.15 so we were hoping to make it to the fountain show in front of the Petronas Towers for the 8 o clock show. We got in a grab with 20 mins until show time, perfect for the 10 minute ride..Except I’m not sure that our driver had been to KL before this day and definitely didn’t like taking directions from google, apparently! We missed the start so decided to grab a bite to eat and then head down for the 9pm showing. It was worth the wait!The next day, Karen and I went to Chinatown, the sentral market and the national mosque. Unfortunately, we missed the guided tour of the mosque as it had been raining so heavily we waited too long in the sentral market for it to subside and we arrived 10 minutes after the last tour.

There had been talk of gin and tonics but the rain made the 20 minute walk to the gin bar sound awful! So after wishing Karen the best of luck for her next adventure- 2 weeks of hiking in Nepal, I went back and had another delicious dinner at the Indian restaurant at my hostel for my last night