Day 13: Kinabatangan to KK by Arushi

We left the tranquil oasis in Kinabatangan this morning, swapping the leafy greens and gentle bird calls of the jungle for the shiny greys and automated chirps of the airport.

A taxi driver transported the five of us, plus the Swiss family along the bumpy roads to the airport, where we met Jason, who had taken the British family to the local hospital and then clinic last night. He said Eddy was now sleeping, which was a hopefully good thing. Mum also received a text from Becs updating us, and they would wait until he had woken up to assess his condition, and if he needs a CT scan - fingers crossed he’s feeling better!

Jason and Gert both came to the airport as they had taken some of our bags last night, and they wished us a final farewell, sweet as ever. They truly made this stay so special with remembering our names and likes, and really getting to know us. Jason trained as a cook and made all the scrumptious and comforting food for us, leaving us extremely satiated after every meal.

We began the process of checking in, along with our Swiss friends and for the first time ever, we were too early for bag check in! So many firsts experienced on this trip: first orangutang sightings, first nasi lamak, and first time early for bag check in.

With a quick stop for coffee, muffins and a waffle we were sat at our gate waiting for boarding. Whilst waiting, dad and Eashan showed us pictures from their sunrise wake up, with a silver mist laced across the hill tops, with white clouds peppered against a blue backdrop. And a picture of a bug from breakfast. (Variety)

Fuelled on cheese sandwiches, pizza and pot noodles we boarded the plane, where we found our Swiss friends where just the row behind us! We landed in the blink of an eye and grabbed a grab to our air bnb for the week, after saying goodbye to the Swiss trio.

The route to our apartment turned out to be more complicated than building our own apartment, and after an overly helpful security guard who kept asking for our and a phone call, we found our way to the check in to grab our key. After one final journey we found our room, nestled in an apartment block above a shopping centre. It’s a perfect apartment for what we need, with two rooms a bathroom and even a small kitchen. The view is slightly dodgy (picture attached) and in the water Millen even seemed to spot a monitor lizard.

We went to visit the pool, which looked very appealing and had a lovely view of the city, and Millen and I also utilised the free laundry services with two bags worth before promptly getting lost / stuck in the apartment complex with fobbed doors and no key. Comically, Eashan walked past as we banged on the glass door to get his attention, to no avail and left us two poor helpless people yelling for help. Someone eventually came into the lobby and we were sheepishly released!

We went for a mooch around the city, feeling more and more weary with each step. We visited a few stationery / souvenir shops, with independent artists work, which were beautiful but pricey and the products weren’t too appealing, they felt as though they were directed towards the Chinese tourist audience, featuring similar art styles and themes. We continued to the waterfront, where we were met with a fish stall and an array of sellers who’s primary life goal seemed to be to entice dad to eat some of their lobsters by waving the poor (alive) animals in his face, much to Eashan’s horror!

Further along the waterfront was the night stall, full of locals fruit shopping, and we picked up some mangoes for breakfast tomorrow. There were sellers fringing the pavement boasting a selection of drugs and teas, then a selection of sellers offering by mending services, and repeating in that order.

Dad led us along to a row of restaurants / bar and we settled on an Italian restaurant where we ordered pizza and pasta (cultural!), and Eashan ordered his favourite - calzone, which he was very pleased with. We were right in the riverfront with a view of Gaya, prompting excitement and talk about our dive tomorrow!

Dessert was next on the agenda, and an ice cream shop located, which appeared to have its own theme song, blasting out ‘I love you and you love me, with some ice cream and tea’ for all to hear. Dad got a plain ice cream, and Mum and Eashan got ice cream sundaes, and Millen had a bubble tea, and he even bought a water bottle. After leaving the bop we hurried to a grab to hopefully get a swim before the pool closed.

In a flurry of swimming costume and towels we rushed up to the pool for 15 minutes of swimming, in front of the glistening night sky line it was a peaceful swim, (if you ignored the boys splashing and fighting). From the pool, we can see the Gleneagle hospital, which is where Eddy and Becs are, waiting for his CT scan to hopefully show he has appendicitis and he can then get surgery!

Millen’s bday gift to me came in handy to hang up all our wet stuff (thanks Millen!) and we then swiftly fell asleep in our apartment, dreaming of diving.Læs mere