Whangarei

Only a short walk to see Whangarei falls, then a stroll around the town basin.

The local school kids had painted all the teams that will be taking part during the British Lion Tour.

I’d read about Mermaid pools in Matapouri bay. Bit of a climb to get there, especially in flip flops!

So worth it.

Crystal clear, lagoon-like pools were our reward for our trek.

The beach itself was alright too…

Had some fun playing with the slow-mo video.

This was mine and Laura’s last weekend together before I move onto my next travels, so naturally we had to have a drink to celebrate.

Didn’t take too many beers before we were subjected to unwanted male attention..

Naturally, not much sight seeing or even moving was done the day after.

Last day in Singapore

 
I had big plans for today, I wanted to take a walk in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and climb to the highest point of Singapore through the rainforests. I also wanted to take a visit to Sentosa island to maybe chill on the beach. Singapore Art Gallery, as its close to my hotel, last minute hawkers for food…
Ah! Best laid plans! I ended up not getting to sleep til gone 3am which resulted in me not wanted to get up when my alarm went off four hours later. 
So I ended up sleeping until noon, when I did eventually surface I did make my way to the Art Gallery only to discover it was closed for re-installation. 
In the end Nizer picked me up and took me on a mini tour. First stop was Bukit Chandu, a museum displaying the history of when the Japanese invaded Singapore.




Nizer then took me to a rainforested part of the area.

Found a HUGE spider.

It’s a little surreal being up in amongst all the trees, literally in the middle of the rainforest, but you can look out onto the industrial port, or the high rise buildings.

I was then taken to the Universal Studios. I’ve never been to any of the Universal Studios anywhere in the world, so even though we didn’t go in to go on the rides or anything, it was still something definitely worth seeing.

I’ve been diverse and tried most foods Singapore has to offer, but my belly was craving pizza. Saturday night is still Saturday night no matter where you are in the world! 

Day two on Koh Ta Kiev

Woke up and actually got up early this morning as I wanted to read in the hammock.
Success! 

Quite a few people leaving this morning, new people will arrive later.
After reading for a bit I took a walk to the other beach on this side of the island, and also another hotel, Kactus.

The beach was longer and a little bit cleaner of tree debris. I’m still glad I’m at Last Point. 

Now I’m back in the hammock with no intention of moving for quite some time.
Had some pizza and couldn’t finish it all so boxed up the other half, went back to my room for a sleep before Klang30. 
By the time I got back to the bar there were ants all over my pizza, I’m not ashamed to say, this didn’t deter me, I brushed those buggers off and ate it anyway! Washed down with ‘free’ beer-I made it to 4 today! On a roll! 
Some guys wanted to walk to another hotel on the island, Ten 103, we started walking and didn’t really realize how far away it was. All the way through the jungle to the other side of the island!
Was pretty cool when we got there, sea urchins and sea cucumbers to see if you wanted to snorkel.
Then the walk back through the jungle as the sun was going down.
Darkness fell pretty quickly once we were back, but I wanted to see the phosphorus plankton in the water, so walked to a darker part of the beach to see them. What I didn’t realize is you have to actually swim out into the pitch black water to see them. 
It was amazing and quite freeing, standing in the ocean in the darkness watching it light up around me as I moved. 
When I walked back to the camp there was a beach fire. I love a good beach fire! 

Another full day of doing nothing! 

To the island!

I left the hostel early as I have no idea what is actually available on this island and wanted some back-up supplies. Discovered some new bites, bed bugs this time! So definitely would not recommend this hostel to stay in! Unless, of course, you like that kind of thing.
I wanted to get a tuk tuk but a guy on a motorcycle showed up and seeing as I only have a small backpack I jumped on the back! 

He brought me right to the place I needed to get the boat. 
I found a shop and an ATM so felt a little happier knowing I had back up funds and biscuits!

I went to chill out in the cafe bar on the beach and wait for the boat, they have the ladies selling massage and bracelets and fruit all approaching people on the beach.

One lady talked me into having my legs threaded. It’s weird but I liked the feeling, so I did have my legs threaded on the beach! 

For some reason they all swarm around you when you’re having one thing, they think you will want everything else. 
….So my nails were done too! 
They were pretty disgusting, so I kinda let that happen! 

An hour boat ride takes us out the island.

Checked in at the beach hut bar on the beach.

Turns out my booking hadn’t gone through properly and as a result I got upgraded to a hut with its own bathroom! Sweet!

My hut is hidden away in the jungle.

I quickly changed into what I’ll probably be wearing for the next 4 days…my bikini.

Lounged by the sea staring off into space, attempting to read. 
Went for a swim, while I was drying off back in my lounge chair one of the staff asked if I wanted to take part in a ‘game’. You pay for one beer and you can drink as many as you want for free for the following 30mins! Sounds like a challenge, so for the cost of one beer, I’m in! 

I hadn’t eaten anything so thought it best to order a pizza to soak up the alcohol while I was drinking.
The prices are obviously a little more expensive here as we’re on a tiny island, but the food is good, so at least it worth it and the portions are large. 

I managed to drink one and a half beers in 30mins, so, I have three more days to build that up! 
It’s weird how I came here to do nothing but now I’m here and have nothing to do I feel like I should be doing something! 
I went back to the beach to enjoy the sun going down.

 I came back to my hut to get my book, walked through the jungle in the darkness by myself. Although I’ve walked through plenty of dark wilderness before, I’ve never been alone, and it did freak me out a bit.
So I stayed in my hut and reading by candle light for a bit. Sea air, relaxing by the ocean all day, beer, all made me really sleepy.

Woke a few times in the night randomly, the sound of all the bugs in the night is loud but comforting. 
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