While Australia has so much to see and do, my husband has been having a tough time at work and he just wanted to get away for a week's holiday to somewhere completely different.
We were both so busy that we couldn't take much time to research anywhere new to visit, so we decided to return to Malaysia, a place we had visited on our first ever trip together 7 years ago, where we knew we could have an interesting and relaxing time without too much research.
We had a week on Pulau Pinang (Penang Island) mostly staying in historic Georgetown, visiting a few sites and sampling lots and lots of local food, including possibly the best Wantan Mee in the world from a little street cart on Lebuh Chulia.
Despite longing for adventure, both of us were mostly too tired to get up early enough to achieve a great deal during most days, and it was a refreshing change for us to have a relaxing time rather than trying to cram in as much as possible. Me picking up an illness on the plane didn't help matters... but we couldn't return to the island without at least a small almost-adventure.
Having decamped to the cheapest hotel-with-swimming-pool we could find north of Georgetown, it was an easy bus ride to the Taman Negeri Pulau Pinang (Penang National Park) where we could enjoy a good walk with hopes of spotting wildlife. We started out at the entrance to the park, with its views over the small harbour.
The canopy walkway was closed when we were there so we couldn't do that. Instead, we opted to walk to Monkey Beach along the well marked and maintained trail. It wasn't particularly arduous as walks go, but to be honest I was mostly interested in looking for wildlife...
We experienced our first wildlife encounter almost immediately in the form of some dusky leaf monkeys.
We didn't know at the time that these were called dusky leaf monkeys however, so we called them 'hello Dave monkeys'...
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| "Hello Dave!" |
The walk took us through beautiful forest around the edge of the coastline, so we were treated to spectacular beach views through breaks in the foliage, though it was disappointing to see so much litter everywhere (I was careful with my camera shots to eliminate as much litter as possible).
On one of the beaches we had an almost-wildlife encounter when I spotted tracks in the sand. The monitor lizard that left these tracks must have been impressively large!
We continued walking, following the trail. If you ever do this walk the trail is easy to find and follow, but don't be fooled by the distance markers - some of them are WAY out! Luckily the jungle scenery is beautiful. It is still tropical jungle, but subtly different from the jungle back in tropical north Queensland.
The jungle also provides very different wildlife encounters to those found in Australia, this time in the playful forms of some long-tailed macaques scampering around the branches above our heads. The small group contains lots of youngsters who are chasing and pranking each other, pulling tails and jumping out at each other. Wrestling and tumbling around. They are a delight to watch and we stop for a while. Photos are difficult due to the low light levels and the fast-moving monkeys, but I do my best to capture their antics.
We're very nearly at Monkey Beach itself now, and the weather really is very hot. We emerge from the jungle onto the sand, it is a pretty beach, with lovely colourful boats moored at the shore some distance away.
I find a bit more wildlife, this time it's a little hermit crab with a rather exotic shell. It is high up on the beach, so after photos I put it nearer the water in amongst some rocks so that it doesn't dry out, overheat or die prematurely. I've always liked hermit crabs :)
At the beach we are delighted to find a bit of a shack where people are selling canned drinks from containers of iced water, exactly what we need after walking in the heat with just tepid water to drink. We sit in the shade with our cool drinks, enjoying the scenery and watching the boats.
We are offered a boat ride back to the harbour at the entrance to the national park for just 40 ringgit (if you pre-arrange a boat ride back at the start of your walk, it costs around 200 ringgit!). We think about it for a bit, we fancy the walk back but it is really hot and the boat ride would be a novelty, so we decide to go for it. We spend the saved time relaxing at the beach, then enjoy the scenery on the ride back. I love the way the jungle appears to rise straight out of the sea.
Back at the harbour area, we see fish farms, rickety jetties, coloured fishing boats... it's all so different to home - both the UK and Australian versions.
The smallest of adventures in a relaxing week :)
