I'm finally back in New Zealand after 2 glorious months in Borneo. I'm actually pretty gutted to be back for a range of reasons, most simplest: at the moment I'm happier and more challenged by life in SE Asia than in NZ. And that's what I want just now.
Poor NZ's getting a bit of a hard time from me - it is a fantastic country, very easy and friendly to live and travel in, so I can't really complain too much. I had New Year on the beach with my NZ family. It's full on summer here and it's brilliant weather at the moment. I'm now in South Auckland preparing for my mum's arrival in a week. I haven't seen any of my family for almost a year and a half, and I can't wait to see my mum. Hurrah!
Back to Borneo though. So much happens in 2 months there's no way I can cover it all. I was 'volunteering' at the river lodge again for most of it - hosting tourists, helping out with housekeeping, guiding, other bits and pieces. Last time there were 11 fan rooms. Now there are also 16 aircon rooms and an extra 8 members of staff. It was good, almost better than last time. I'm getting my teeth round the language a lot more and pushing my weight around a bit more with regards to some of the more serious issues that need to be resolved there (such as rubbish disposal - into the river is really not a viable option!). I also spent a fair amount of time helping out my new Belgian friend, Gert, with the lodge he's building. He grew up about half an hour from where I grew up. Him and Jason (Malay) are building a lodge in the hills opposite ours. It's beautiful and it was great every now and again to pop over there and help varnish, paint, plaster, whatever.
As before I also spent a lot of time out on the boat trips watching animals. I can now recognise most of the primates from a distance by the way they move, I've become much better at spotting birds and at least distinguishing their broad type (i.e. whether they're a hornbill, bird of prey, etc) and I'm slowly learning to recognise the specific species of bird by the way they fly and the sounds they make. Some of the highlights of the past two months:
- losing 3 of my 8 pairs of knickers when Ujy threw them out, thinking they had been left behind by a guest
- staff dinner with the head honchos and having the chance to really have it out with the big boss (diplomatically, of course!)
- having an entire T-shirt eaten by a rat living in my wall
- watching Nelson and his brothers catch a 9m python
- learning to drive the boats
- meeting Richard and Jo, English photographers and divers living in Kota Kinabalu who come to the lodge several times a year
- going to a restaurant and not speaking a word of English
- daytrip to Nelson's family's old lodge and the areas they used to take tourists
- being taken on a 'nightwalk' around the restaurant by a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old, discovering insects and reptiles and rats
- nights out in karaoke clubs in Sandakan
There are just so many wonderful memories, as always.
In the lead up to Christmas, Gert and Jason (well, Jason cooked) laid on a beautiful, delicious meal as a thank you; Christmas eve was spent in Kota Kinabalu having turkey dinner with Richard and Jo. Christmas day itself was a quiet one on Pulau Labuan, an island off KK.
I had a wee shopping trip in Bangkok on the way home, enjoying the HUGE weekend market there at Chatuchak. I secured 2 (replica) Billabong surf shorts, 2 bikinis (that fit!) and a t-shirt for 660THB (that's about 10 GBP). I also stocked up on (pirated) DVDS - 10 films and 2 5-DVD series for 25 GBP. Excellent.
As you may know, about halfway through my stay in Borneo my camera was nicked, so I only have photos from the second month. Big shame, but never mind. At least I've got some! I'll start getting stuff uploaded to flickr over the next week.
I'd like to say a big thank you to my medical team, Dr Mizen and her assistants Miss K. Odds and Mr Deo Campo, for all their advice and support while I was in the jungle. Thanks to them my bladder and kidneys did not fail and the aliens have not eaten my foot (although they are still trying). Thank you, guys.
For now, it's NZ. A visit from mum and then a month later a visit from Kathy. Other than that, it's all a big unknown again.
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