One man and his door went to climb a mountain

This man carries a hardwood door (45Kg) up 3000m of altitude in the tropical heat and rain.

Semporna to Sandakan & back again

Well, we headed to near Ranau, the start of the trail to the summit of Mount Kinabulu but alas the rain that fell in KK continued to fall. We decided to head on and after the exchange of much information and many bits of paper secured our guide for the journey. The walk to the huts at 3300m took us just over 3 hours to complete and it was a sweaty rainy uphill affair, (with the occasional stop for cheese and crackers). We passed the evening cooking noodles and watching squirrels run about outside the window of our hut. We got up at 2.30am, expecting the return of our guide at 3am to head for the summit. The rain however had a different idea and along with the wind it would have made a miserable accent. Our guide never showed and we returned to bed. Our guide returned in the morning and shared our disappointment and apologised profusely. At this altitude we are above the tree line with no wind shelter and so walking up a granite face with monsoon rain pouring down it is not really the most sensible approach. No one climbed the mountain that day!! We walked back to the park head quarters where Joe sweated through a particularly hot Tom Yam soup see picture!

Next we flew to Tawau and were collected at the airport for a transfer to Semporna (hope you all have an atlas!) From there we got a boat for a 1hour trip put to an old oil rig, located near to Mabul Island. The rig was used for drilling in Panama before being moved to Singapore and then to Labuan where it was refitted to accommodate a tourist fishing village. Then some smart person moved it to its current location and opened it to divers enabling access to a number of world class dive spots at reasonable prices. ( http://seaventuresdive.com/ if any one fancies a read) With our own en suite room, five meals a day and four dives a day, at different locations, we have been spoilt. We had early morning boat trips to Sipidan with flying fish whooshing past and schools of dolphins and large tuna breaching the water. Sipidan is now a military base with no one allowed to over night. It was once a hutted resort but the kidnapping of tourists by pirate Filipinos put an end to that!! Luckily its reefs are still open to 120 divers a day max and you are allowed to enjoy the beach while having a picnic lunch. The island is surrounded by a wonderful reef which is a snorkellors delight. However, a few meters from the shore there is a drop of 600m to the sea floor and an entire new world to explore!! We had the pleasure of diving along side fish of wonderful colours, green turtles, hawkbill turtles, huge schools of barracuda and jack fish, moray eels, white tip sharks, grey reef sharks, cuttlefish, crabs, and an array of coral reef life!!!

When we returned to Sempora we traveled by bus (6 hours!) to near Sandakan where we joined up with a tour guide and headed for a 1 hour boat trip along the Kinabatangan river. We saw an orangutan and its baby lunching in a tree and a few proboscis monkeys and many macque monkeys jumping about. We stayed in small huts with mosquito nets and were taken on night treks into the jungle and along the river. There were more mosquitos then I could ever imagine but it was worth it. I got some lovely photos of kingfishers (saw three types!) frogs and even a crocodile!!! It was wonderful to see all these creatures in their natural habitat, one of the areas in Borneo that has not been completely cleared to enable the planting of palm oil.

While in Sandakan, we also spent some time wandering around a memorial park, which occupies the location of a once prisoner of war camp. The Japanese kept British and Australian men prisoner here and it is the starting point of the dreadful death marches to Ranau. Of all those held and marched only 6 survived to tell the world what went on. We also visited the house of American author Agnes Keith who was also taken prisoner. She lived in the expatriate area of Sandakan, on a hill above the town. We had a fine three course lunch in the English tea house & restaurant next door to her house and watched the sun set across the town.
A bus journey west of Sandakan brought us to Sepilok, home to an Orangutan rehabilitation centre. This enclosed jungle are is home to about 30 monkeys preparing themselves to get back to the wild. We watched as the keeper delivered bunches of bananas to the feeding platform and they all had a good munch. Many sat in the platform while others swung from ropes with their feet while peeling bananas with their feet!!! The macque monkeys are also inhabitants there and tidy up after the orangutans.

Before returning to Kota Kinabulu we decided to have another stay on the oil rig and enjoyed four more fabulous days of full time diving!! A total indulgence but an unforgettable experience. We also went for two nights dives, underneath the rig, where an artificial rig has been set up. It's a different world at night with just our torch lights to lead us. We managed to get back safely to the rig lift where, as Joe clambered out there was a scream of "SEA SNAKE!", which sent us into a panic. He managed to scramble to his flippered feet and we soon discovered it was a moray eel!!! Phew. If the sharks didn't get us we weren't going to be bitten by snakes!!

Tomorrow we fly to Kuching in Sarawak. We hope to visit a few national parks and check out the beaches. The Christmas decorations are up in Kota Kinabulu and my skin is peeling from the sun!!! I can confidently state that we have fully adusted to 24/7 holiday mode and look forward to whatever adventures the next few weeks will bring.

Hello to all in Baile Ath Cliath and beyond!!