And we're off (again!)

Thankfully, the discovery phase on Gjoa is done. The last two months here at Rebak Island Marina in Langkawi, Malaysia have passed in a blur. We still have a huge to-do list, this is a boat after all, but, we're through the 'must-do before leaving' items and ready to be on our way. It feels good!

We finally had some time to check out the island's resort, Vivanta. I tried to take some pictures of the resort, but, the light never seemed right. Here are a few from the resort's website to give you an idea.

Our birthdays are within three weeks of each other, so, we used this as an excuse to treat ourselves to dinner at the resort restaurant, Senari. The food was excellent, definitely the best meal we've had in Malaysia so far.

If we'd really wanted to splurge, we could have hired the Moon Deck for a private dinner for two.

The resort clientele seems to vary from week-to-week, but, is mostly between large, well-to-do, Indian families escaping their even warmer climate (we overheard somebody saying it was 50C at home in India), Chinese families and younger couples from traditional Muslim countries.

One week when it was mostly Indian families, there was a sumptuous wedding that went on for three days. Everybody was walking around dressed in their finest, women in richly coloured, beautiful saris, the men in finely tailored silk 'suits' and silk shoes with turned up toes. By comparison. all of us yachties schlepping around in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops looked like a bunch of slobs.

One thing I won't miss about this marina are these fish around the boat. They may look harmless, but, they are evil. They're usually hovering around, looking for a handout, but, we never feed them. I was leaning over the side, adjusting something, and this little devil spit right in my face! From a metre away, it hit the bullseye, right into my mouth and all down my shirtfront. Needless to say, my reaction was swift, lots of spitting out and jumping around.

There didn't seem to be many species of birds on the island, but, there were quite a few of these large hornbills, probably the most exotic-looking wild birds we've ever seen.

There are some nature trails on the island and on one evening walk, we came upon a large family of monkeys. There were lots of young ones who seemed as curious about us as we were about them. They came very close to us and we contemplated each other for a long time. They were fascinating to see up close in their native habitat. However, as jungle 'newbies' we were probably a little naive. We later heard that monkeys, especially the large males, can be very aggressive and bite. A bite results in an immediate trip to a hospital for a rabies shot. We were advised to carry a stick with us next time.

The current plan is to leave Rebak and head north for a mini shakedown cruise to Phuket, Thailand before turning south, back through Malaysia/Indonesia and then on to Western Australia.