It's been quite a long time since we posted, and the Asia leg of the journey is over but we're now in the land down under and returning back to the real world :)
So quickly picking up where we left off...
When we booked our flights too and from Borneo we had been a bit overly optimistic on the time scale in relation to how much money we would have left at this point in the trip. There were so many trips and hikes you could do which looked absolutely amazing but just too costly for what we wanted. We had 7 days to spend in Sepilok which we knew was too long for that one place but we preferred to spend it there, rather than back in the city.
When we arrived in Sepilok it was already dark and the bus only stopped on the main road so we were once again in the middle of nowhere with no idea where we were going. We quickly got the torches out of our backpacks and got our bearings and began walking the long stretch of road through the trees to the hotel. Walking through an area known for its wildlife, at dark, wasn't exactly ideal but luckily enough a taxi driver drove past soon after and knew straight away where we were heading. The hotel was great. It was completely surrounded by the jungle and even had a pool which was a good way to pass the days when we didn't have anything to do. The only down side was there was no internet in any of the rooms except for a very slow connection in the reception.
We were on 5 minutes from the orang-utan rehabilitation centre which was perfect but we decided to save that for later in the week, so for our first full day we headed to a bear sanctuary which was again just down the road.
Though the Bears are in fenced enclosures the rest of the site is open to the jungle meaning often other animals come passing through. We got the chance to see this when it was feeding time for the Bears and we suddenly heard lots of howling in the distance, gradually getting closer and closer. Almost every day the macaque monkeys would come to the bear sanctuary to get in on the feeding. There were so many in this one group flying trough the trees, bringing down branches and everything else with them, they could easily have been mistaken for a heard of elephants stamping through the jungle. It was quite funny to watch.
The next day we went to orang-utan centre. Except for a few of the young apes which are being rehabilitated, the orang-utans that come to the 2 daily feelings are actually wild so you're not actually guaranteed to see them. We were lucky however and when we went for the first feeding of the day, 2 adult orang-utans showed up. It was so nice to watch them come swinging though the jungle... well they actually casually strolled through following the guy with the food but oh well. It wasn't too long before the macaques showed up again and after defending their food for so long, the orang-utans gave up and vanished back in to the jungle.
After the morning feeding they close the centre for a few hours so at that point we walked back to the hotel. It was nice to see them but honestly we were a little bit disappointed that we didn't see more, and see them interacting rather than just coming to the platform for the food than going again. I decided to go back again later for the afternoon feeding to see if it was any different whilst Alex stayed at the hotel. It turned out to be so much better than the morning. I was one of the first in and raced to get to the front of the group so I could walk around while it was quiet. And I'm glad I did, I just overtook 2 of the guards when they suddenly called me back. There were two orang-utans play-fighting on the platform right in front of us. They were that close you could have walked up to them and touched them... had it not been for the guards. I watched for about 10 mins or so while the rest of the group caught up but unfortunately the orang-utans had to be shooed away because they started to interact with some of the people watching. About 30 mins later a large group came for the feeding. This time about 5 or 6 and they were climbing all over the place, swinging from tree to tree. Exactly what I wanted to see. It just went to show that they could go where they wanted when they wanted which was so much better than seeing them in enclosures.
Spot the ape
He was so close!
The macaques gather for leftovers
After a week in Sepilok we took the bus back to Kota Kinabalu, spent a night there, then flew to Kuala Lumpur. Here we were spending another night in the airport before our flight to Bali the next day. Needless to say we now knew this airport like the back of our hand. It honestly has everything you could want and need but after being there 3 separate times, 2 of which were overnight stays, we were pretty happy to see the back of it.
...it was a long night.
We had just 6 days in Bali, which was enough for us just to have a nice quick beach break before heading to Australia.
Our flight from Bali was late at night so we landed in Brisbane the next morning at around half 5. After 4 months of temperatures on average around 30 degrees getting off the plane with the temperature around 6 degrees was a huge shock to the system! We were not prepared at all! We quickly found the train to the hostel we had booked but as we were about 6 hours too early for check in we had a long morning of waiting around. We took the opportunity to start getting organised though. First we went to the Apple Store to get Seans phone fixed, which in the end he got replaced with a brand new phone, then we went to the bank and set up our new accounts and then we went in search of new SIM cards.
We knew that the cost of living in Australia was a lot more, but going from paying £10 a night for a double hotel room to paying £22 a night for a 20 bed shared dorm, was a bit of a shock. We spent one there and then fell immensely lucky when we found out a distant relative of Seans lives just out of Brisbane city and offered to put us up.
That is where we have been up until now. Unfortunately we haven't found a job as of yet but we are still hopeful. Technically we did both get a job at a marketing company but we turned it down when we realised it was commission based and literally paid half of what we could be earning on minimum wage.
So far we're liking Australia though. We've been to see the Gold Coast, and surfers paradise and some other sea side towns. We got to see the new Thor film being shot in Brisbane city which was crazy busy but exciting to see and the other day we went to a big drag racing event with some more distant relatives, which turned out to be a really good day but apart from that we don't really have much more to report. At the moment our days are mainly spent Pokemon hunting and job hunting. We may still do some blog posts if we move somewhere else or once we've got jobs and new accommodation but until we have saved up and can do some more travelling they may be few and far between.
Serious Pokemon hunting
Being one with nature
Just happened to pass by Thor and Loki... as you do
Anyway, that's all for now. Better get back to job hunting!
:)
