Hello Malaysia

How we laughed. Last night after a great dinner at an Italian restaurant at the Danga Bay marina, Johor, Malaysia we opened a box of Cadbury Choc-coated Almonds I bought at the hypermarket at Pangkalun Bun I was saving for a celebratory treat. Box 10x6". Inside the usual moulded container. Sitting in that a tiny foil packet of almonds. Never seen so much packaging for so little result. 

Might have been a hint of hysteria and tiredness in our laughter. What a day we had. And what an experience Indonesia has been and how sad we are to leave it behind. 

Starting out from Nirwana Waters resort, Bintan in company with other yachts. Blue skies, lovely morning, little wind but faint cooling breeze. 

Here is Calypso with South African friends aboard.

Delicious to call friends and family as we go along via Facebook. We think FB has bought out Viber and that's how we can use the iPad as a phone and surprise the recipients with an unexpected ring.   Last calls to make contact before leaving Indonesia and use up our phone credit. 

The volume of ship traffic increases as we motor along, as do the flotsam and jetsam.  Are we phased by what the Singapore Straits look like live on Ship Traffic?

We slow to pick up a heavy duty orange life buoy lost from a vessel. Some nervous anticipation of crossing the Malacca and Singapore Straits and dodging the traffic with no right of way whatsoever. 

You need to magnify to see the number of vessels here.

As it turned out, in Johns's excellent experienced hands and three other pairs of eyes to monitor we had no issues and all potential incidents could be seen and avoided. We smiled to see the tiny fishing boats half a mile from ships. They seemed almost underneath. The usual waves and smiles exchanged as we passed by. 

The day gets hotter, more overcast and incredibly humid. Singapore is impressive and we pass about 20 miles of coastline as we head to the Jahor Strait. We see the high towers with the swimming pool suspended on a platform above (Elizabeth Baird had recently shared photos she and Malcolm took of this close up), the giant ferris wheel and the Durian shaped arts and entertainment precinct. We pass around Raffles lighthouse (see below), 

Raffles marina and finally up the river with Singapore on the right shore surrounded by a wire fence for border security and Malaysia on the left. 

We approach the Causeway bridge that links Singapore with Malaysia - it has 25 meter height clearance above water. Our mast goes under with 2 meters clearance. Looks pretty interesting from underneath. 

We pass Puteri marina which is very upmarket and has huge shopping complex. Toys R Us is here too:). On approach to Danga Bay marina the friendly efficient voice of Terrence, Marina Manager, leads us to our berth alongside pier 4 where we find many of the Sail Indonesia fleet already tucked in. 

The weather looks decidedly ominous over the nearby land reclamation area and we hope the rain holds off.  It does and then we experience the heaviest downpour so far in our travels. What a pity we hadn't time to get the rainwater collection device ready. 

 As Chris of Out of the Blue said, the day was a buzz and it was great to be in a marina with club facilities after weeks at anchorages.

It is quite different here. At first, it seems no one wants to shake our hand or have photos taken. Oh dear, "Rooster one day, feather duster the next".  However as you wander around and speak to people, especially in their language, it does happen. Met a girl this morning for instance who just graduated in CivilEngineering and spent time in Melbourne last year.  It's just that we kind of got used to being mobbed and having star status :)))

Very friendly helpful staff at the marina and in the restaurants and bars and the best lasagna I've ever had even though made with chicken instead of beef. Lots of Mosquitos so out comes the net for our bed tonight. 

 Enjoyed the shops today and decide to change our flight back so we can enjoy more sights at leisure. 

Delphian is now snug under its boat covers 

which will be great to shelter us from sun and rain. It's nostalgic to see Ted's 'T' on the sails and covers. Ted was a sailmaker known to all Sandringham Yacht Club sailors who sadly passed away last year.  His work lives on. 

We enjoy the bar at night with some good singers. 

Our photographer. Seems the Malaysians are as happy to pose for photos as the Indonesians.

Johor Bahru or JB as the locals call it has been a shopping experience, with daily storm and rain in the afternoon and pleasant evenings. Nice to stop still for a while. Still to explore Singapore and have extended return flight date to do so.  Our laundry went off to be done today. Yay!  It's the little things that give so much pleasure. 

Enjoying keeping in touch with you all back home and those new friends of all nations we have made on our travels. 

What do we look forward to on returning home to Australia?  A good cappuccino, crusty white bread, affordable red wine as we travel down through the red centre, cuddling family and friends along the way and back in Melbourne, including the furry ones. Mowing the lawn (ha ha), sharing photos and stories, a visit for me to the podiatrist and not having swollen feet, swimming in cool surf. Going to the movies and Tiamo in Lygon St. Getting back to art class and the lovely company and lunch that goes with that. Seeing my Vietnamese students and hopefully two new arrivals to the Dinh family. 

Using this experience to enrich the interactions I have in my volunteer work and thinking about the next adventure to the outback and on the oceans.