Sunday, February 27, 2011

Langkawi!

escaped the hustle of KL.....plane hop to Langkawi was quicker and no more expensive than first class train overnight...so here we are looking for a beach....they have bigtime dutyfree here....

Friday, February 25, 2011

KL

off to  rocky start....the fancy Tilt Train to Brisbane broke down....twice...second time they loaded us on buses to continue....finally made the Gold Coast Airport Hotel (not recommended) 2 1/2 hrs late....but found a great pub across the street and a good Thai curry and cold beer got us back in the mood....Air Asia flight was uneventful...Airbus ok....long bus ride in to city centre....and quickly merged into the hot, sultry crowded atmosphere of Kuala Lumpur....hotel was a bust again but put up with one night then found a great place around the corner...we are in the heart of Chinatown and Little India...big busling husling market at the end of the road.....soaking in the flavors and aromas.....off to find the Batu Caves today.....

Monday, February 21, 2011

"on the road to find out...."

first stop after putting Toketie safely to bed in the boatyard was Ann & Chris's...where this young possum jumped from the roof to the tree to take a banana out of Chris's hand.....and in the morning the water dragons joined us for breakfast by the pool.....heading into Bundaberg to catch the train down to the GoldCoast.....

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

leavin' on a jet plane....

Well, cyclone Yasi hit the coast about 500m N of us.  It did a lot of damage to several small tourist communities behind the Great Barrier Reef.  Cairns was spared the worst of it but Port Hinchinbrook was hit hard enough to pile all the boats in the marina up on the shore! 

http://www.news.com.au/police-divers-search-for-cyclone-yasi-victims-in-port-hinchinbrook/story-e6freoof-1226000927368?from=public_rss

All is quiet on the 'cyclone front' at the moment.

The Toketie crew have booked flights to Malaysia and will escape for a while to do some land travel.  The plan is to put Toketie safely up in the yard till we return.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Tropical Cyclone 'Yasi'

It's a big one!  Category 5 and that is as high as the categories go!  With winds forecast to 290 kph to hit near Cairns tonight.  Most people have evacuated the coast.  For a dynamic satellite view see http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/satellite/sequadrant.shtml

Toketie is safely S of it but still on the edge of the cyclone zone and the season is just heating up!!