www.davesisland.com

Wow, what a packed couple of weeks it has been for me!

Singapore turned out to be great fun, by day it was the Botanical Gardens, Orchid Gardens, Sentosa Island, and the many many shopping malls and food courts…and by night Singapore Slings at the Raffles Hotel, Clubbing at the Ministry Of Sound, and views of the city from the 72 floor of the Swissotel. Singapore is a funny place, they have rules for everything with zero tolerance to public disturbances, drug use, violence, and chewing gum! The streets are spotlessly clean and everything is run with a degree of efficiency I have never experienced before; trains, buses and the metro all arrive bang on time no matter what time of day it is.
The people are friendly but slightly self-absorbed, running their own lives with the same degree of efficiency as their transport systems, however the taxi drivers are a laugh-a-minute, all real characters!

Random Fact:
By LAW, to be a taxi driver in Singapore you have to fit the following model:

1. Male
2. Over 30 years old
3. A resident Singaporean
4. Married!! - The reasoning being that if a girl gets in your cab then you wont touch her. Makes sense

The area I was staying in was quite different from the rest of Singapore. Little India was just as it describes, a little version of India (smelly drains and all), in the midst of this ultra-clean metropolis…quite an achievement! I enjoyed some of the best curries in my life there and loved the place.

Thanks to a lad called Dylan who worked at the hostel, I left Singapore on the 17th June with a pretty precise plan of what I wanted to do during my time in Malaysia and traveled by bus over the border to peninsula Malaysia and a city called Johor Barhu (JB for short, they abbreviate all their city names here). From JB I caught an Air Asia flight to Kota Kinabalu (KK) on the west coast of Sabah, Borneo. KK is a great place, a lot smaller and more “lived in” than Singapore and the people are really friendly, life here is considerably slower, I like it.
From day one here I was straight into it, Dylan had booked me into Borneo Global Backpackers and they in turn had booked me onto what turned out to be one of the greatest, and hardest, treks of my life…the ascent of Mt Kinabalu.

I scarcely had time to pack my daysack and stock up on cakes, peanuts and chocolate before it was time to leave for the base of the mountain. It took 2 hours to reach the gate and first checkpoint where I was teamed up with my guide, Chiki, and he and I began the ascent to the summit base camp. Now I had an inkling that this was going to be quite a strenuous exercise but boy was I in for a surprise…

The track up to the camp is 6km long, “Not that long” I thought, however over that 6km it ascends over 2500m in altitude along a track thick with mud, crude wooden steps, wet rocks and more mud. This was a grueling hike, several times I found myself asking the question “why?” and “I’m paying for this!?”…mainly to myself but occasionally to the other poor, red, sweating souls along the way. Meanwhile Chiki remained cool, calm and sweat free throughout and didn’t seem to even loose his breath! The altitude began to get to me at around 2 thirds of the way up, I began to loose my breath very easily and so began to hyperventilate as I tried to compensate for the lack of air…after a stop for water and chocolate I got myself back under control and we made a push for camp. Slowly the Kilometers dragged by until finally, and not a moment too soon, we arrived at Laban Rata, summit base camp. I’m not 100% sure of how long it took but I think we set off about 10:30-11am and arrived at the camp by 3.00pm, so it was long enough!

Rumble In The Jungle

Now I was hoping for a nice hot shower, maybe a spa bath and sauna but nooooooo…a luke warm shower cubicle was all I was greeted with. The beds were nice though and after a 30min power nap I was ready to face the world again and enjoyed an excellent buffet meal with my fellow climbers, over which we all reflected on the day and most of us agreed…”never again”. I was in bed by 6.30pm, wrapped up warm in my hoodie and blankets.

2am came around very quickly but I didn’t feel too tired and layered up, readying myself for the summit climb by drinking lots of tea and eating toast with butter and sugar on. at 2.30am we started up the final 2km trail to the summit. It was pitch dark and our torches hardly seemed to make any difference, in fact after about 30mins mine didn’t and it packed-up with a broken bulb. Luckily Chiki had great night vision and lent me his torch, I was quite worried for the guy and kept expecting him to disappear off an unseen drop or something but he was, as ever, cool as a cucumber and without a word (he didn’t speak English very well), we continued on. Soon the trail turned into steep granite and soon after that it became very steep granite, with ropes for pulling yourself up. I necked my one and only can of Red Bull and we made a break for it, getting in front of the leading group and heading for glory…however, we actually got up to within 300m of the summit a little too early and realised that we’d have to wait over 1.5hrs before sunrise…oops. It was getting pretty cold and the wind was starting to bite so we huddled up in a little bunch of rocks until it was time to go for the last section of the climb…by which time we had been joined by a friendly bunch of Canadians who contributed some more body-heat to the cause.

At 5:30am we reached the summit, 4095m (13,435 ft), it was amazing…as the sun rose above the mountains in the distance the darkness lifted and I could see for miles around, it was breathtaking (maybe that was the altitude too!). Soon after, mist and clouds began to form around the peaks and down the valleys and it was time to start heading back.

The World At My Feet

I’m not going to go into much detail about the journey back, as much to say that it was HELL. My legs and knees were aching before I even began to start the 6km back from camp to the first checkpoint and by the time I got back to where the whole adventure started, I could barely walk. But it was worth it

Since then my whole body has been a mess, I can barely walk let alone tackle any form of staircase so I have been using the past couple of days to recover - I even treated myself to a full 1hr body massage, which cost less than 10 quid and was worth 10 times as much. Yesterday I dragged myself out of the hostel and had a quick poke around KK before hopping on a boat cruise along the Klias river, a swamp system which is home to all kinds of creatures including the famous Proboscis Monkey, the Barry Manalow of the animal kingdom, and the bum-flashing firefly.

The monkeys were hard to spot and even harder to photograph but eventually we came across some that were less than 100m away…the fireflys however were amazing, once darkness fell the trees lit up with them so brightly that you could make out the branches and leaves, all outlined and flashing in time…and the guide said “Happy Christmas!”.

Today I haven’t done much, pain is still dictating my plans at the moment but tomorrow I should be a bit fitter to do stuff…I did have a look around the Sabah Museum which was pretty interesting and had some good exhibits such as the tribal blow-pipes and a huge replica cave containing models of the birds nests they collect for the famous Birds Nest Soup - an asian delicacy. These nests are made by swallow spit and can fetch nearly 1000 quid each!

I’ve made a couple of local mates so tonight i’m going to be able to go out and order something without guessing what it might be, looking forward to some Satay or lamb dishes…yum. I’m going to spend tomorrow in KK then head up north to Sandakan where there is loads off stuff to do, the Orang-Utan sanctuary, Turtle Island to name but a few.

Until the next installment, check out my photos!

- Mt Kinabalu -

TTFN!
Dave
x

Hi Everyone!

Back into the tropics, this time in north eastern Australia at the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef - Cairns.

Arrived here in the small hours of the morning on the 9th May, tired and happy to have a bed waiting for me at the lovely little hostel that is Tropic Days, a truly great place and where I have spent the remainder of my time (on land). First impressions of Cairns, it has to be said, were not that great…its a bit, for a better word, trashy, but maybe thats just because I was in Melbourne which is far and away anything but trashy. However, its the ideal place to book tours and dives which are very competitively priced. Which is exactly what I did…I booked myself onto a 5-day liveaboard dive trip with Taka Dives, a company with a good reputation and an exciting schedule which takes you right out into the most unspoilt sections of the reef. I was not dissappointed, 14 dives later and back on dry land I look back at one of the best trips i’ve been on since coming to Australia. Great staff, a good crew of people, amazing food and incredible diving experiences made for a trip of a lifetime. The highlight of which has to be the shark feed…i’ll say no more, just look for yourselves, and yes I am the one taking the video!

Shark Feed!

Not only that but I was also lucky enough to see (and this time video) a Manta Ray, at least 2m in width with some speed to him too!

Along Came A Manta…

All of this coupled with stunning corals, fish of all shapes, sizes and colours and superb water clarity and visibility resulted in perfect dives. I have to admit that before I came to the GBR my expectations were low, many travelers I had met had not been impressed but I know now that you have to see things for yourself and not always rely on other people’s opinions and I’m glad I had the chance to look for myself. It was excellent.

Anyways thats what I’ve been up to and after 5 days of diving I am knackered, yet satisfied. I’m just gonna chill out around the hostel pool for the next couple of days and then make my way south to Ayr and Townsville.

Hope you all enjoy the pics from the dive, i’m happy with them, they came out really well! Check them out…

- Great Barrier Reef -

TTFN
x

UPDATE: Check out the photo’s I’ve uploaded from our trip:

- Melbourne And Around -
- Campervan Road-Trip Around Victoria -

Its taken me ages so they don’t all have comments yet, I’ll try and update them in a few more days. ENJOY!

Hi all!

Yeah I know, i’m a big let down with this site sometimes, after all its been over 2 months since my last post…maybe closer to 3!! *blush*

However, the reasons behind this are all positive. I have been having such a good time I haven’t had the chance to sit down at a computer and write any of it down!

Just to bring you all up to speed…
I left Sydney, and my good friends Tom, Craig, and Dom, for pastures new down in Melbourne with my girlfriend Kat. Since then we have been having a good old time taking in the sights both in Melbourne and around Victoria - which has to be, second to WA, my favourite Aussie state, rolling hills, forests and mountains combined with un-swimmable (too cold in Autumn) but beautiful beaches. Melbourne has been my favourite city so far, it is vibrant and full of arty-farty types as well as the cool cats, such a mixture of people who all seem very happy here.
We have been living in a suburb called South Yarra in a little house with our housemates Bec and Roger (see below), and its been great.

Roger!

Admittedly we haven’t spent all that much time there as, about a week after we arrived, we decided to get a campervan (courtesy of Apollo) and tour Victoria, taking in some popular (The Great Ocean Road, Philip Island - and the wonder that is the ‘Penguin Parade’, The Grampians) as well as lesser-know (The Great Alpine Road, Yarra Ranges, Gippsland) sights…all of which were just brilliant, I would particularly recommend the Great Alpine Road as it is not too widely known and in my opinion has a lot more to offer than the Great Ocean Road, Mt. Buffalo National Park was stunning. I was also lucky enough to celebrate my 25th Birthday during the road-trip in the picturesque town of Marysville, well worth a visit if anyone ever gets the chance

The Great Ocean Road

Its not all been travelling about though, whilst we were in Melbourne we took the opportunity to spectate on the great sport of AFL (Aussie Rules - Australian Football League) at the largest stadium in Australia, the MCG (The Melbourne Cricket Ground, “The Home Of Footy”, or the ‘G’ as it is fondly known, Aussies love to abbreviate even the shortest of words). We witnessed an epic battle between Richmond ‘Tigers’ and Collingwood ‘Magpies’ which was a see-saw affair with the Tigers taking most of the points from the first two quaters…but, after much ‘barracking’, shouting such phrases as “C’mon you Tiges” or “Go the Pies”, the match ended with Collingwood ( the team I was backing ) clawing back an emphatic victory.
AFL is a very complicated game to an outsider, basically because the rules don’t appear (to the untrained eye) to be applied very consistently, …not to mention the fact that at any time the pitch can be invaded by ‘trainers’ who come on in yellow tabbards and give advice to the players - probably such enlightening words as “hit him hard”, “bash his face” or “run Forest!”. However, given all of this its a very entertaining game to watch live as the atmosphere is amazing and the fights that erupt on the pitch, unchallenged by the officials, are first class (a prerequisite of a ‘rules player is to be built like a brick poo house…and be in possession of a mullet hair-do). This, all matched with 4 chances to get to the bar (one for the start of each quater) and a meat pie makes for a very enjoyable evening. And before you all ask there is no way I’m going to try and explain the rules - all I can tell you is that its played on a cricket pitch with a bouncy rugby ball and is referred to by those who reside in New South Wales as “Ariel Ping-Pong”.

Me, Kat, Bec and Nic at the game

And there has been lots more going on which I can’t remember so you’ll have to take a look at my photo album in a few days for the pics from the past month.

So, to the here and now then. My time in Melbourne, and with Kat, as come to a close…for now. I am flying up to Cairns on the 8th May to start my tour of the East Coast before my Visa runs out at the end of June. Plans include; visiting the Cape York Peninsula, diving the Great Barrier Reef and the wreck of the SS Yongala, completing a RYA competent crew sailing course around the Whitsunday Islands, 4WD adventures around Fraser Island, Brisbane, and possibly the Gold Coast if I have time.

It seems strange to think that I only have just over a month left in Oz but i’m going to make the most of it.

So, TTFN, I will be uploading pics tomorrow or the day after and will post again with links to these when they are done. All the best!

x

P.S. All you Facebook addicts, add me if you haven’t already,
dave_searle “AT” hotmail.com

Hi all!

Well its time for my monthly report, and its been a busy one so you’ll have to bare with me!

For those of you who want to cut the crap and just see some pics I have just uploaded my Tasmania trip album as well as some crackers from Christmas, New Year, the Blue Mountains, and Australia Day.

– Tasmania —
– Xmas —
– NYE —
– The Blue Mountains —
– Australia Day —

Now to catch up with my life in Sydney so far…

After a great trip round Tasmania, Snip and I arrived back in Sydney and moved in (or rather squatted) at Tom and Craigs’ flat, situated in the centre of the city next to Darling Harbour. We celebrated Christmas with a massive feast, cooked up by yours truely, and some other good friends - Kat, Dom, and $5 (or cheesey, cheeseburger, hot dog, whopper….or just plain Steven). It was a great day with all the christmas trimmings including port, brandy, cheese and capped off with more drinks and a good old game of charades - Dom’s rendition of the brutal murder of Bambi was breathtaking.

After a few days of parties and celebrations it was time for the Big One, NYE in Sydney - a night I had always wanted to experience and safe to say I was not let down! A great day/night with some old and new mates, climaxing in the most impressive fireworks I have ever seen. Check out Snips footage of the Harbour Bridge display below.

— NYE Fireworks Harbour Bridge–

The wind-down after the festivities ended with Snips sad departure, but not before we did a bit more sight-seeing, hiring a car and visiting the spectacular Blue Mountains. It was sad to see him leave and i’m sure a tear would have been shed if it weren’t for the fact I was half-asleep and hungover when he made his long way back to Old Blighty.

Since then it was all hands on deck to get a job and some positive cash-flow again, which was much harder than I expected! Finding IT work was near impossible and even office temping work was scarce - a lot more people in the area flooding the job market I guess. However after two weeks, sifting through papers and contacting numerous agencies, it was my good mate Tom who set me up with a logistics job at a stationery warehouse. Not all that glam but it pays the bills and the lads there are a good crack, although I have suffered mercilessly thanks to my cricket team…and of course being a “pom”.
I finally got my own back after Friday though when we finally managed to break the Ozzies and avoid a total tour whitewash! Yay!

Oh and of course, I forgot to mention the Australia Day celebrations, held on the 26th January. A fantastic day followed by even more fireworks, which were almost as good as the NYE ones! Check out these two die-hard Ozzy chicks!

So thats about it from me at the moment, I hope you are all well and enjoying life where-ever you are! I’ll be updating again in a few days and adding some comments to all of the pics as well as some more for you to take a look at - there are some good ones to come

TTFN!
Dave
x

I have updated all of the pictures with witty if not descriptive titles, I’m sure some of you can comment with some equally witty retorts (Comp?)

- Dave, Craig n Tom’s Roadtrip -

I have also bought some more space for my site so there are a few more pics on there too. More to come later when we reach Darwin.

TTFN
Dave
x

Hi everyone!

Well after much faffing at the internet cafe here in Broome I have finally got some pictures to show you all

They are all taken from the start of our road-trip up until now so if you are wondering who the two lads are who keep making an appearance every so often, thats Craig and Tom.

I just want to add…..its bloody hot here now.

- Dave, Craig n Tom’s Roadtrip -

TTFN
Dave
x

P.S. Unfortunately I have run out of webspace at the moment and am waiting to get some more so there are a few pics missing at the end but there are plenty for you to take a look at until then!

I know…I KNOW! Its getting repetative now but I am sorry for the lack of news from my end of the world, I have been a lazy blogger and I hope you can all forgive me for it. Now down to business…

There has been a lot going on since my last post and i’m sure that i’ll skip a few things, its not intentional I can assure you, but its 2:20am here and my brain may not be functioning at 100%. Get on with it!

I have now started work for an ISP (Internet Service Providerfor all of you who aren’t down with the lingo) called Eftel in Perth CBD. Basically working as part of the helpdesk team and assisting clients with their internet woes etc. Its a nice job with some good people and best of all its flexible - i’m currently working from Mon-Thurs meaning I get a nice long weekend!

Outside of work things have been happening too…the hostel has filled up again with the coming of spring, new faces galore! We have had some more great days, the City to Surf fun-run was a huge sucess, 7 of us ran the 12kms in under 1hr 30mins (some of us faster than others) and all of us made it through the finishing line without so much as a sprained ankle, not bad going at all. The same weekend the hostel hired a 12-seater hot-tub and we had a hawaiian bikini/boardies party to celebrate.
Aside from general weekend behaviour myself, Craig, Tom, Donna, Dee and Alondra went to see The Strokes perform their final Australian tour gig, a really good performance even though the crowd was a bit thin on the ground.
Life has been pretty settled really which is a welcome change from the norm. Footy in the park at the weekends, a few parties and of course the odd drink here and there

Last weekend saw Craig reach his 24th year, celebrated in true ozzy style with a Sunday session down at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Cottesloe - happy birthday mate! Shout outs also to Kingsley who spilt a pint on me and to Tom for making me think I’d lost Craigs camera leading to a sleepless night on my behalf.

So plans for the next week is to get some camping gear sorted out, bits n bobs for the car and generally enjoy the company of my friends - hey Mon
Myself, Craig and Tom will be heading down south on the 24th of Sept, we’ll then spend a week touring the south west before coming back to Perth on the weekend of the 30th, in time to see Hard-Fi playing at the Metro in Fremantle…lookin forward to that! We’ll then be setting off on our long-long drive up the west coast, retracing some steps that Pete and I made a month or so ago and venturing even further all the way up to Darwin.

A few mentions need to go out this month…

Congrats to my sis, Jo, for her graduation - well done girl!
Well done to Pete, my bro, for passing his A-levels in flying colours and making it to his desired uni, University College London - nice work matey!
To Mum for having the b*lls to start her own business and make her own website - www.inspiritbuxton.com
Hi to Dad n Lesley (Happy Birthday!) who should still be enjoying Japan right about this time - Konichiwa!
Shout out also to my mates Chris and Helen, and my godson Thomas - who was christened earlier this month.
In fact just a big hello to all of you out there, sorry for not being in touch and miss u all - although i’m still having a great time

I have uploaded some pics from my first month in Perth, there will be many more to follow over the next few days!

Go to the Australia Album to see the pics.

TTFN
Dave x

Those bloody spammers have been at it again! This time they have attacked my photo-album comments with all sorts of links to a variety of “interesting” websites…

In response to this I have added a new feature to the comments section of the album, you now have to enter a code before the comments can be displayed. Please don’t let this put you off commenting as this I appreciate all the feedback I get from you guys and it makes the album all that more entertaining.

The alterations I have made are a little crude and have caused a bit of a glitch on right hand side of the page for each photo but I’ll tidy that up some other time.

Thanks to This Article for helping me combat those blighters.

TTFN!

P.S. I know many of you will be chomping at the bit for another update and some photos and I’m in the process of that…there just isn’t enough time in the day at the moment but its coming together so watch this space

Hi Everybody!

Its been a good-while since I last updated you all on whats been goin on in my life down under, there have been some busy days and some not so busy ones…and today is just such a day so its a good time to catch up with you all

Pete (Bro) and I had a great couple of weeks, our roadtrip was a great sucess and after all my concerns “Lotty” (the motor) held together and we made the 4000km round trip without a hitch, although I have to admit when I dropped Pete off to the airport I needed the RAC to tow me back to the hostel - Voltage regulator cut out on me, all fixed now though, and I did it myself!
Unfortunatley we never got to do any diving up at the Ningaloo, the weather was just a bit breezy and many of the boat trips were cancelled
However, we had some good beach days and saw quite a few amazing sights along the way. We even picked up another passenger to share the journey back with, shout out to little Julia (Jules), from Germany, thanks for keeping us company on those long open roads…even though you were asleep 90% of the time hehe
Exmouth and Coral Bay were stunning, amazing beaches and crystal clear water…if a little chilly. Kalbarri National Park was another highlight, with amazing views across canyons and rivers, the Z-Bend and Nature’s Window. We even managed to get to see some stock-car racing in a small town called Denham, not as impressive as High Edge Raceway but the 360 sprint cars were great fun to watch.
A completely random place we came across was the Hutt River Province, a principality in its own right, sitauted on a farm in the middle of no-where - how it all came about is a bit of a story to tell but you can take a look at the website link above for more info
Before our journey was over we finally got to see the famous Pinnacles - limestone formations sticking out of the sand-dunes. We got up nice and early to see the sun-rise and although it was cold it was worth it. The place certainly had a spooky feel about but as the sun rose it was quite a sight to behold, with the shadows of each Pinnacle stretching across the corrugated sand.

So after 9-days on the road it was time to return back to Pirates, and I have to say it felt a little bit like going home! Before Pete left we (Pete, Julia and I) managed to squeeze in one last day trip to Rottness island - a beautful island situated 45mins off shore from Fremantle. We hired bikes and cycled round most of the island, with its white-sand beaches, turquoise water, and the furry little Quakkas!

Since getting back its mainly been back to the grindstone and searching for a job, done a few bits n bobs here and there but nothing regular as yet. We’ve had some great weekends away and days out with the hostel, one of the best being a trip we did up to Lancelin….racing around the sand dunes in a Toyota Land Cruiser and sandboarding down the steepest ones, all good fun!

We also had a chance to make the long drive out to Wave Rock, an impressive rock formation in the shape of…yeah you guessed it, a Wave! An 8hr round trip in all but worth the look.

Last weekend we had a group outing to the Perth Zoo, one of the nicest zoos I think I’ve been to with a good range of animals - the Oragutans were the best of the bunch though.
On Sunday we took another mini-trip up to a white water event called the Avon Descent - a rapid race down 100kms of river, taking 3 days in total. A variety of craft take part, in different classes; there are powered sledges, kayaks, and surf-ski’s.

Oh another major event was that I actually managed to abstain from alcohol for over a week, not a mean feat I can assure you but its all part of my healthy workout in preperation for the City-to-Surf fun-run which is taking place on the 27th of August. Its a 10km run from the centre of Perth to City Beach and a few of us from the backpackers are going in for it - its for charity….but also we get to wear pirates outfits which should make us stand out in the crowd!

So in the last week I have mainly been job-hunting again - no need to anymore though because yesterday I actually managed to land myself one on the IT Helpdesk at a firm in the CBD of Perth, will actually be nice to have some money come in instead of go out.
Me, Jimmy, Johnny and Donna have also been on a few fishing trips and the other day brought back nine of the little beauties which I cooked up in garlic, white-wine, lemon juice and butter! yum!

So I think that pretty much covers the major events of the past month….thanks to Pete for coming out and visiting me, was good to have you around bro
Shout outs to all those who are at the backpackers and to those souls who have moved on to other places, you know who you are.

More Photo’s to come once I have sorted through them all (there are heaps) but for now here are the ones from Me and Pete’s roadtrip…

Pete n Dave’s Roadtrip

TTFN!
x

So its only the second game and already I’m gonna have to miss it! Unfortunatley its on at 4am here and with me needing an early start tomorrow there is no chance I’ll get to see it Oh well, good luck to the lads anyways!

Oh, i’ve just added a few more pics of the frisbee and mini-golf (thanks to Nathan) to the Queenstown album, so if you want to take a look then go here.

TTFN
x