SUN 18TH We relaxed for the next couple of days before undertaking a Thai Cooking Lesson on the 20th. The lesson was awesome, we learnt about all the different herbs and vegetables and they took us to the local market. We learnt how to cook seven different dishes including spring rolls and red thai curry.

WEDS 21ST Today we were forced to purchase an extra bag as we had accumulated a few new items. The next day we went to the cinema for the third time since travelling - The Ugly Truth - hilarious!

THURS 23RD After a late morning we drank in our favourite irish bar, ate roast dinner and played free pool. In the evening we rocked it out at a nightclub called Bubbles. Needless to say the next day was a complete right off, with two take aways and a complete series of CSI. The next two days we chilled by the pool.

29^TH OCT Today Brian showed us round the local temples and Buddha statues. We hired a boat and went on a trip round the river looking at all the scenery and Royal Chariot Boats. On the way back to the hotel we squeezed the 4 of us in one tuk tuk and went out that night to a few bars.

30^TH OCT The four of us went on a two day one night river kwai tour. The first day we visited the floating market and went on a boat trip to see the locals houses built on the river. Then we rode on the death railway and were taken to our floating accommodation where Caroline and April crossed a very scary rickety bridge with holes in. For the rest of the evening we sat on a floating raft drinking, playing cards and dangling our feet in the water, it was very relaxing. The following morning we went swimming with the elephants in the river and rode them bareback in the water while holding onto their ears. They were cheeky and sprayed us with water and shook their heads to try and throw us into the water. Next we went to the tiger temple to touch the tigers and April and Kirsty got sprayed when the tiger was trying to mark its territory. Later on we visited a gorgeous waterfall and went to the hellfire pass museum. We got to Pattaya later that evening by minibus and all went out to find a big Halloween concert in full swing.

1^ST NOV On Kirsty’s birthday we all went to a crocodile farm and fed the crocs with chickens dangling off pieces of string and watched them jumping up for the food. We watched a crocodile show where a crazy man put his head in the crocodiles mouth. Afterwards we had our photos taken sitting on top of the crocodile in an enclosure with lots of other crocodiles around too. April got to bottle feed a little baby tiger cub and an elephant picked her up with his trunk. The next stop was a snake park where we watched another crazy show; this time the man was throwing round poisonous snakes. Due to our front row seats April had a close encounter with one of the snakes sharp teeth after its head landed an inch away from her foot. After the show we got to touch and hold some of the snakes. On the way back to the hotel we were taken to a huge gem shop which was pretty amazing. Later that evening Brian had organised a birthday party for Kirsty; pink balloons, ice cream cake and her favourite Chicken curry. To top it off us three girls didn’t pay for a drink all night J

3^RD NOV Up early for a day of swinging around in the trees. We were taken into the jungle and then had to zip wire and rapell for four hours. It proved tricky as the wind was very strong and the trees were swaying. Caroline ended up stuck in the middle of a zip wire and had to be rescued by a member of the staff. Afterwards we went to the open zoo and fed the Giraffes some long beans. Their tongues are soo slimy and cow like lol Then April got attacked by a monkey…lets just say the monkey didn’t want the stick. In the evening we went to the temple and brought little flower rafts to celebrate Loh Katong. We tried to float them out to the sea, very unsuccessfully.

3^RD NOV We all got a speedboat out to an island and spent the day in the sea and playing silly games in the sand. The sea was very choppy on the way back and it was a bumpy journey. In the evening we sat in a bar and watched Thai boxing then played some pool. The next day we had a quick dip in the pool and said goodbye to dad (Brian) before getting a minibus to the airport and onto our flight to Phuket. We met up Caroline’s mum Cheryll and sister Kerry who came out for a holiday and spent the night catching up.

5^TH NOV After much persuasion Cheryll agrees to go white water rafting. We went on a tour that first took us to feed lots of wild monkeys. Kirsty, Caroline and April were a bit wary after the zoo experience but Kerry and Cheryll bought some nuts so we fed them the nuts from our hands and they jumped up on us a few times.

6^TH NOV Today was a rest day….so why the hell did we all end up doing a bungy jump?? We blame April lol! It started off as a peaceful day on the beach until we ended up jet skiing across the bay and then later throwing ourselves from a 160ft crane. What else is there to say….oh April got black eyes

7^TH NOV We got a speed boat over to the Similan Islands to enjoy a few days of bliss. The sea was soo turquoise and yet so clear. We stopped at several bays to snorkel and saw some amazing fish and coral. Our highlight was when two giant turtles swam right over to us. They were inches from out faces so we reached out and they let us touch their shell and legs. They were soo cute! Our accommodation consisted of two tents but due to some unfortunate events we ended up sharing one. Lets just say noneone got any sleep. But we still had the energy to jump off the third deck of the boat and swim away from the jellyfish (kerry you are hilarious)

10^TH NOV Our first day apart in 6 months. Caroline, Kerry and Cheryll all decided to go on a family tour to Phang Nha. We visited many different islands including James Bond Island, kayaked through caves and jumped from the boat. All the while Cheryll was taking photos of rocks lol The crew put on a cabaret show on the way back to shore, very entertaining! Overall great day.

Kirsty and April decided to take a break from islands and spent the day playing darts, pool and drinking then swimming in the pool and drinking by the pool bar. Playing swimming through the legs drunk is a little dangerous…..sorry April J

11^TH NOV Unfortunately Aprils holiday had come to an end so we went to the airport to see her off. However this proved more difficult as she left one of her bags in Caroline’s hand and neither of them noticed. We had to have an announcement put over the tannoy, "can a April Duncan please report to the information desk" and she had to come back through security to get it. At least we got to say goodbye again lol Later that afternoon we endured a two-hour ferry crossing to Koh Phi Phi. It was terrible. On arrival we checked into our accommodation and watched the crazy fire show on the beach. Skipping ropes on fire and drunken people really don’t go together!

The next day we relaxed in the pool, and the day after us two and Kerry decided to go diving. It was awesome we saw loads of Turtles an even swam a metre away from a Leopard Shark.

14TH NOV - Today was our last morning in Phi Phi. After a hearty breakfast we got on a long tail boat back to Phuket. It was a very enjoyable 2 hour journey. We accompanied kerry and mum (cheryll) on their last tuk tuk ride to the airport. After saying our good byes we returned to Patong and traipsed around until we found some cheap accommodation.

Sat 28th Nov - Stranded at Kota Kinabalu airport for over two hours as the project co-ordinator was waiting at the wrong airport. Once she picked us up we then had to wait for another girl to arrive before being transferred to the Tang Dynasty Hotel, time to rest. Later in the evening we meet some of our group and go to dinner at the sea front restaurant.

Sun 29^th Nov – Today we relaxed, did a bit of shopping and met the rest of our group. During the day some of us got a boat to a nearby island and did some snorkelling. In the evening we ate at the sea front restaurant, drank a few cocktails and tried smoking a sheesha.

Mon 30^th Nov – Today we were transferred to Rasa Ria, a 5 star resort. It was amazing and we had a sea view room. We spent the whole day in the pool playing on the slides and mucking around. For dinner we had an all you can eat buffet from 6 different restaurants, it was great!

Tues 1^st Dec – In the morning we trekked up to a vantage point for some pics and then went to get our first glimpse of what we had come here for . . . . . . the orang-utans. They were sooo cute. Later on we had our induction with Albert and the following morning checked out of the hotel to fly to Sandakan. Once transferred to the rest house we could unpack. The rest house was very nice with AC in our rooms and a TV downstairs, and situated right outside the gates of the Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary. The staff cook us three meals a day and clean our rooms once a week. We are very well looked after.

Thurs 3^rd Dec – Today we were taken on a tour of Sandakan, our local town. We visited a gypsy sea village and went to a WW2 site where many people were killed. The next day we met the staff at Sepilok and had a formal induction from Sylvia and the vet about the work at the sanctuary and how we would be involved.

Sat 5^th Dec – This morning we were taught what to do in our first rotation, husbandry. Husbandry involves taking food to the orang-utans that have been released in the jungle. In the afternoon we were shown the routine in the clinic where all the babies, the juveniles that are aged from 2-7 and the poorly ones are looked after. The next morning we were in the clinic again feeding the babies and poorly Orang Utans. After that we carried the older ones into the play cage and gave their night cages a good scrub and cleaned the place up.

Mon 7^th Dec – Begin husbandry! Our daily routine is to arrive at the clinic at 8:15 and weigh out some bananas, sugar cane, sweet potato and bread. We carry the food, warm milk and sometimes a few orang utans that have returned to the clinic during the night, back into the jungle to platform 4. The trek isn’t too far but we work up a good sweat, especially if we are dragging rosalinda (a 7yr old female who likes people). Once at the platform we feed all of the semi wild orangs while trying not to get grabbed or bitten by the cheeky orangs. Afterwards we trek back through the forest to the tourist platform. There we answer the tourist’s questions and guard the platform in case any orangs or macaques come near the tourists. We finish the morning at about 12 mid day. Then in the afternoon we return to the tourist platform at 1.45pm for the afternoon feeding. On only our first day Rosalinda climbed onto the platform near the tourists. Caroline told all the tourists to move away and we had to stop them touching her while Laura the other girl in our team carried her back into the jungle. We finish at 4 pm. The next day was the same routine taking the food into the jungle and going to the tourist platform. After lunch Kirsty carried Atama (one of her favourites now), a 5 year old male to platform A and released him back into the jungle after being through the 5 year rehabilitation process.

Weds 9^th Dec – Start the day with our usual trek into the jungle, this time just carrying bananas and no orang-utans. We arrived at platform 4 to feed all the semi wild orang-utans. Once this is complete we walk back through the jungle to the tourist platform. There we found Atama and Sogo sogo a 5yr old female playing in the small tree on the tourist platform. We had to secure the area and keep everyone back to ensure the orang-utans didn’t come into contact with the tourists. After lunch we went back to the tourist platform where we found Mishcan (next in line to be the dominant male!) walking along the handrail towards the tourists. We had to move the tourists away as quickly as possible but it was scary as he kept growling and baring his teeth. To top the day off CID the massive dominant male with big flanges made an appearance at the feeding platform. We were so lucky because he doesn’t come often especially as all the females are already pregnant.

Thurs 10^th Dec – Due to CID being in the area lots of the orang-utans were scared and ran to the clinic so when we arrived in the morning we had to carry/walk/drag 3 orang-utans back into the jungle. After that we continued further into the jungle carrying milk and bananas to feed the semi wild orang-utans. Afterwards we trekked to the tourist platform where all the tourists were complaining because there was not many orang-utans there. We had to tell them that they are wild animals and we cannot force them to come and eat here. Unfortunately there was no more sightings of CID but we did have 7 staff including us, guarding the tourist platform just in case.

Fri 11^th Dec – On arrival at the clinic we discover that Oscar is sitting on the roof waiting for an opportunity to break into the food room. As a morning gift he decided to urinate off of the roof onto Kirsty, Caroline and Laura, deliberately aiming and smiling at us. After we weighed the bananas, and the milk was heated we took Tiger (the orang-utan who has previously led other sick orang-utans back to the clinic for treatment) and started our trek into the jungle. Not even 5 minutes into the trek and Tiger does a runner back to the clinic, so we went without him to platform 4 where we discovered Toby breaking into the food box. After feeding the orang-utans we trekked to the tourist platform to watch the orang-utans playing. In the afternoon the two naughty best friends Sogo sogo and Atama were on the tourist platform AGAIN.

Sat 12^th Dec – Today no orang-utans needed carrying back to platform 4 which made our trek into the jungle quicker. Kirsty found a big tiger leech on her leg, - urgh. After feeding the orang-utans we went to the feeding platform and got drenched in the rain. In the afternoon the sun came out and so did the hungry orang-utans, good afternoon.

Sun 13^th Dec - Today the visitor at the clinic was Mishcan who was desperate to see his girlfriend Eyos who is in the treatment room. He is too big to take back into the jungle so Ellis the ranger had to scare him away by pretending to use a dart gun. When trying to feed the orang-utans at platform 4 Brock tried to grab and play with us and Caroline almost lost her trousers, scary. In the afternoon both Mishcan and Ringo (a wild male orang-utan) came onto the tourist platform so we had to move the tourists away.

Mon 14^th Dec – On arrival at platform 4 we see that Toby is very sick so we quickly feed the other orang-utans and take Toby back to the clinic. He was so well behaved and walked with us most of the way but once he saw one of the rangers he ran and hid up a tree. We couldn’t get him down so we left him and went to the tourist platform thinking he would turn up there for some food. To our surprise he didn’t and instead he walked from the jungle through the tourist walkway and walked hand in hand with Caroline the rest of the way to the treatment room.

Tues 15^th Dec – Today was our last day on husbandry rotation and we were allowed to move the two orang-utans from the play cage to a holding cage in the jungle in preparation for their release into the jungle. On arrival at platform 4 Rosalinda sat on the food bin with a piece of plastic and bathed herself in the rainwater, it was so cute. After they were fed we went to the tourist platform, very uneventful afternoon.

Wed 16^th Dec – Today we started our jungle trekking rotation which starts at 8:30. Once in the jungle we have to locate orang-utan nests and record the data. The nests are really hard to see but we did see a flying lizard and a green viper (its poison kills in 30 minutes). In the afternoon we have free time so we decided to go to the tourist platform to get some pics of the orang-utans playing. Day 2 of jungle trekking and lots of leeches. The fun of trekking is wearing off as everytime it tips it down with rain and we get soaked. At lunch one of our friends’ returns from the jungle with a painful bite so we decided to take her to the clinic where we identify it to be a scorpion bite. In the evening we went to a Christmas party with the Sepilok staff. Some of the men dressed as women – very funny.

Fri 18^th Dec – We wake up tired after the party but soldier on into the jungle. Many of the routes in the jungle were badly flooded so we had to go cross-country which was really fun. After lunch and a little siesta we head to the clinic to help out with the juveniles. Caroline took Ceria (4yr male) to the jungle gym so he can practise his climbing and Kirsty taught Tara (2yr female) to climb in the play area. Saturday morning was the usual jungle trekking and in the afternoon we went to the tourist platform but there was too many people so we went to the shop and bought some souvenirs.

Sun 20^th Dec – Today was our last trek with James and we did a very adventurous route due to the heavy rain, resulting in us balancing on logs over the water barefoot. Once we got back to the house Kirsty took her top off to find a leach on her chest, after some screaming Caroline killed it with the dettol. It all calmed down until Caroline took her top off and Kirsty started screaming and pointing at Caroline’s chest – another leech. In the afternoon we helped out in the clinic and clean out the babies enrichment cage, we also got to take some babies and juveniles out. Caroline was trying to teach the feisty baby Michelle, a 2yr old female, to climb but she was having none of it and just wanted to pick on the other smaller babies. Caroline then tried to help get Alan a large hairy and troublesome juvenile into his cage and ended up getting bitten twice and now has a good couple of bruises.

Mon 21^st Dec – Today Ellis and Salim take us into the jungle to conduct a mammal survey. We have to mark 30 points on a jungle trail with tape, each being 25metres apart. After lunch we return to the trail and lay a trap by each marker. Each day we will check the traps twice to find out what mammals are living in the jungle.

Tues 22^nd Dec – After Caroline’s usual 4 slices of toast we head into the jungle to check our traps. We caught a tree shrew in two different traps and we helped weigh, measure and mark them before setting them free again. Unfortunately Caroline laid her traps wrong and locked the doors open lol. In the afternoon Caroline and Brett went to book us bus tickets to Semporna and collect Caroline’s parcel from the post office. Kirsty and Laura went to checked the traps but there wasn’t anything. Once we were back together we opened the xmas box from Caroline’s mum and blew up our inflatable tree and put our cards up on the table, its nearly Christmas! In the evening we went on a nocturnal walk to see the orangs nesting and watch the flying squirrels. We liked the fireflies.

Wed 23rs Dec – This morning we went to check the traps but got chased through the jungle by a group of macaques. We couldn’t stop so we just had to ignore the traps and walk quickly to get away from the macaques - scary. After lunch we went and reset the traps after the macaques had stolen the bananas from them all. In the evening we headed out for our second nocturnal walk. We had just stepped onto the tourist walkway when we saw CID, the dominant male, on the fence just 3metres away from us. Kirsty ran away lol and Caroline stood there watching him. He was annoyed that we were there and kept growling and shaking the trees. He was scary but slowly he moved away and we watched him make his nest high up in the trees.

Thur 24^th Dec – Today was our last day of work before we have 8 days off. We trek into the jungle to check the traps and find we have caught 2 common tree shrews and 1 tortoise. He was so cute and filled the cage, we thought he was stuck in it but we managed to wiggle him out. When we got back to the rest house Kirsty’s package had arrived. We put our stockings on the table ready for tomorrow and in the evening we went to the Sabah hotel just us two. It was a Christmas buffet and we had roast turkey and stuffing, roast potatoes, veg and gravy. It was heaven. We had party poppers, crackers, Christmas hats and the staff sang carols. After we had eaten we went to the bar for a drink and listened to the awesome live band.

Fri 25^th Dec – We awoke to the noise downstairs of everyone up and ready to do secret santa. We had some bucksfizz, made by Sheila, which was a nice surprise. After some amusing gifts eg peanut erasers and pickled lettuce, us two went upstairs to open our presents from the family. They were all brill thanks both mums and family and friends. At midday we all went to the English teahouse (owned by a man named Rory) for Christmas dinner. It was 5 courses and very nice but the buffet yesterday still beat it. Then we moved onto the house of the lady, Sylvia, who is our boss at Sepilok and there was beer and rice wine, oh and some good pics of Caroline drinking it. Later on we organised a cold food buffet and drinks to celebrate while playing silly games. Of course Boxing Day involved relaxing, eating our goodies from Christmas and playing with our pressies.

Sun 27^th Dec – We got to the bus stop at about 7:30 and waited about 60 mins for the bus to arrive – it was on malay time! The journey to Semporna took about 5 hours and for the whole journey all we could see out of the window was palm oil trees as far as the eye could see. It really hit us then how extensively the forest here has been cut down. When we arrived everyone was booked for dorm beds but us two decided to get a private room as it wasn’t much more. All the diving permits for Sipidan were full as most people book months in advance due to it being one of the best dive sites in the world. Instead we were put on the waiting list and booked to dive at Mabul for the following day. That night Caroline had pizza for dinner and Kirsty had spaghetti bolognaise plus a few beers.

Mon 28^th Dec – Today we did three fun dives at Mabul. Our first dive was a wall dive and Caroline had a Remora fish that kept sucking on her leg. It was horrible because we didn’t know what it was and whether it was poisonous. Later we found out that they are harmless and that they usually attach onto turtles. The next dive was underneath an old oilrig and there were some huge fish, so cool! Our last dive of the day was just off the jetty where we saw a turtle as long as a person, it was so big. Once we got back off the boat they told us that there had been some cancellations and that we could go diving at sipidan the following day YAY we were so excited! That night we both had pizza and beer, it was the best pizza since travelling oh I cant describe how good it was.

Tues 29^th Dec – We were so lucky to get Sipidan permits and so excited. We had to pretend to be other people when we signed in on the island so we had to memorise someone else’s name, how its spelt, their age and nationality. Luckily we got it right in front of the guards and we were allowed to dive. Our first dive was a wall dive and we saw loads of white tip sharks, which looked scary and lots of turtles. On the next dive we saw a school of barracudas circling but the tides were very strong so we had to turn and go in a different direction. Our last dive was at the most famous site at Sipidan with a 600metre drop off the edge of the reef. We dived down into Turtle tomb cave and went a few metres into the blackness before turning round to see the massive blue hole where the entrance was. It was so cool. No need to ask what we had for dinner again J

Wed 30^th Dec – This morning we got the 7.30am bus back to Sepilok with Sheila. Once we got back we had lunch and the 3 of us went to help out in the clinic. We bathed 3 of the babies in the sink and helped feed them all.

Thur 31^st Dec – This morning Sheila Laura g and us two went to work in the clinic. We fed all the orang-utans and took 3 of the babies out to teach them to climb in the play area. They are so cute and if you go too far away from them they get scared, cry and grab you for a cuddle. In the evening 5 of our group and 3 others went to the sepilok nature reserve for new years eve. There was a huge buffet dinner and lots of wine – it was great! We played games at the table and then went up to dance the Malaysian dance the pucha pucha (don’t know how to spell it) in front of all the tourists and the staff loved it and were all joining in and taking pictures. Then they organised some games for us including musical chairs and the limbo, which Caroline won and got a free T-shirt (her second free one since travelling). We counted down to New Year and danced until we had to leave.

Fri 1^st Jan – Another relaxing day. We ate more of our Christmas goodies and watched a film. The next day we got a flight to Kota Kinabalu ready to start our third rotation, Rasa Ria. Throughout this rotation we stayed in an apartment in Tuaran, which consisted of only two rooms, but we had A/C in the bedroom and a washing machine so it was good. That first evening we went to the market and got some local food.

Sun 3^rd Jan – We begin our work at Rasa Ria Nature Interpretation Centre. We had cereal for breakfast while staying in the apartment which was a nice change from toast. Our driver was usually late picking us up but we nearly always made it to work for 7.30am, god knows how! The first thing we did was chop up fruit for all the animals including the sambar deers and the food for the nocturnal watch. Then we fed the tortoise, the chickens and the ducks before going to feed the whistling teal whom we named Rory. After that we would go to the orang-utans and feed them bread before giving them a bottle of electrolytes each. Once they were all fed we cleaned their cages, swept the tourist platform and cleaned the nursery. We look after 6 orang-utans here, 2 girls and 4 boys all aged from 2-4 years. Three of them get to go up to the tourist platform and play in the trees while three get to come with us to the nursery for enrichment. For the enrichment we decided to hide fruit around the nursery but as we were doing this Caroline discovered a big bearcat in the tree. We weren’t allowed back in there because they are very dangerous so we had to entertain the orang-utans in their cages. Once the orangs from the platform came back we bathed them and put them back in with the others. For lunch we ate at the staff canteen which was ok and then we relaxed on the sun loungers by the beach. In the afternoon we cut more fruit and fed all the animals again, cleaned out the cages while 3 of the orang-utans went back up to the tourist platform. When they got back we washed those three and put them back in with others before giving them their electrolytes and finally their big piles of fruit. After we finished work we went and got showered and changed in the staff toilet and sat outside again before eating dinner at the staff canteen. Picked up at 5:30 and once back we played some games before bed.

Mon 4^th Jan – When we got to work today we were told that the bearcat had been lured out of the nursery with bananas, good start. We did our usual routine and got to take Katie, Cinta and Gembira to the nursery while Afiq, Jaya and Reg went to the tourist platform. We hid fruit for them to find and Gembira loved it. Cinta would swing around and find some but then come back to touch us and sit close for a minute before going off again. Katie was very independent even though she is the smallest in size. She was quite happy sitting on her own most of the time. We put them back in their cages before the others got back from the tourist platform. Reg the youngest has such long hair that once he’s been bathed he goes all fluffy. Jaya is the leader and tries to get out of washing so you have to hold both his hands even though he still grabs things with his legs ( Caroline got the hang of washing him though). Afiq wriggles a lot when you try to dry him and he likes trying to grab the towel and bite it. We relaxed in our lunch break again and our afternoon routine was the same except we got to hold a baby chick, feed the little deer some leaves from our hand and meet the slow loris, the python and the baby bearcats. We had dinner at the staff canteen again before going home to watch a film.

Tues 5^th Jan – We took Gembira and Afiq into the nursery today to practise nest building with some leaves that we found. Afiq loved it and spent ages making his perfect by patting it down and biting bits to snap. Gembira loses interest very quickly and only seemed to want the leaves if another orang-utans wants or have them. The next day we had Gembira, Cinta and Katie again so we hid some food in a bamboo stick for them to get out. They weren’t very interested, as it was too easy for them so we decided to try out our Christmas bubbles. We blew the bubbles at them and they loved it. Gembira loved catching them in his mouth and trying to eat them from the floor. Katie was a bit wary of them and stayed out of the way but Cinta loved them and kept trying to catch them in her hands and making faces. Once we got back to tuaran we decided to get a hair cut, our first since leaving England and then went to a restaurant for some murtabaks which were sooo nice.

Thur 7^th Jan – Today we had coconuts for enrichment. We took out Reg and Cinta, Reg cracked his open really quickly whereas we had to show Cinta how to do hers. They love eating them and Cinta kept trying to take Reg’s. At lunchtime we went for a swim in the sea which was lovely before going back to work. We decided to have dinner at the tourist restaurant at the resort, burger and beer J

Fri 8^th Jan – This morning Cinta and Gembira came to the nursery where we had put some honey in one of the open coconuts. Gembira went straight to it and drank all the honey while Cinta discovered some of the hidden fruit covered in honey. Gembira was poking a stick into the coconut to get all the honey out which was cool to watch. Katie was brought down half way through and managed to get a couple of bits of fruit but we had to get the bubbles out again, as they were bored with the now empty coconut. Later in the morning we saw a dead bearcat that had been killed by a wild dog and all its insides were out, it was a horrible sight. The same day I had a slug in my lettuce from the staff canteen. After work we went to the Internet to book our flights to oz. As a reward we went for some more murtabaks.

Sat 9^th Jan – Our last morning and we finally managed to get the tortoise to eat the long beans from our hands. We had Gembira and Reg with us in the nursery so we got Kelvin to cut some banana leaves for them to build nests with. Reg tried so hard but never seemed satisfied with his. Gembira kept stealing his leaves so he usually couldn’t finish which was sad. They did quite a bit of play fighting together too. We used our bubbles as it was our last day and Reg wasn’t sure about them at first but once he saw that Gembira loved them, he realised they were safe and kept chasing them and seemed perplexed when then disappeared. We ate at the posh restaurant again and had a beer, so relaxing. Afterwards we walked along the beach and went to see the horses.

Sun 10^th Jan – We had a relaxing morning then got a flight back to Sandakan. In the evening we went with the others to a really nice rooftop cocktail bar and had a few drinks. The following day we went on a tour to the gomantong caves and then on a cruise along the kinabatang river. We got to the caves and in the jungle surrounding the entrance we saw some wild orang-utans. Once inside it really smelt and they took us off the tourist trail up inside the cave where the floor was poo crawling with cockroaches - it was so vile. The bats literally swarmed out of the cave, there were thousands all attached to the roof and walls and hundreds flying out and around it was horrible. We went to the river next and saw lots of probiscus monkeys, a python and another wild orang-utan. The rest house made us a buffet dinner as we were all back late which was a nice change.

Tues 12th Jan – In the morning we wandered down to the tourist platform to watch the orangs playing and then went to mile 4 for lunch and shopping. We went to 7^th heaven and ate so much food, it was all so good and the smoothies were awesome. We looked around the shops, went to the supermarket and then ended up back in 7^th heaven for dessert.

Wed 13^th Jan – Today was our first day in the clinic. When we got there we fed the orang-utans, giving the babies 1-2 bananas, the juveniles 3-4 and the ones in the treatment room up to 6. If they have diarrhoea we give them apples, sugarcane or bread. Then they all get milk except the ones with diarrhoea who get electrolytes as does Ampal who doesn’t like milk. We also have to feed a hornbill that is being looked after by the nurses. He makes a lot of noise until we feed him his bananas. After they are all fed we scrub and dettol both rooms and hose them down. In the treatment room are 9 orangs but they are always changing. Today one of them called Anakara is being taken to KK as she broke her leg in the jungle. In the juveniles cages there are 9 including Michelle, a new graduate. The juveniles that weren’t going to play in the jungle gym got put in the big play cage together. We managed to get a total of 5 juveniles in the jungle gym but because it started raining we had to convince them down and put them in the play cage so they didn’t get ill (low immunity). We decided to bath a couple of the babies as we still had time left. There are 4 babies now that Michelle a 2-year-old female has graduated to the juveniles.

The babies are Kala, the only boy who is scared of climbing by himself, likes clinging onto you and has a dark patch on his top lip so he is easy to identify. Matamis a girl who is a little bigger than the other 3 and loves bath times and always splashes around in the water. Tara a girl who is fluffy and loves cuddles but is a very good little climber. Our favourite Wulan who is a little girl with fluffy crinkled hair, also a good climber but likes to be cuddles lots. Sometime when you put her back into her cage she cries and bangs her head on the bars which is really sad. So today we bathed Matamis who loved it of course and Wulan who was ok as long as you held both her hands but she would not sit in the bath. After lunch we took 3 of the babies out to play. Kala wouldn’t go very far but he did get braver as the afternoon went on. Wulan and Tara however were great and went out on the high ropes and were picking leaves and playing with each other. They came back from time to time to get some attention but enjoyed playing on the rope over the tree the most.

Thur 14^th Jan – We fed everyone as usual also giving Ampal his build up paste. We have to put it along the length of our finger then put our finger in his mouth and he sucks it off our finger. Then we gave them their drinks and washed the floors. We managed to take 5 juveniles out to play on the jungle gym while Caroline cleaned out their cages so well that they shined. The juveniles are Michelle, Salemat, Alain, Ceria, Sen, Yoda, Ampal, Tambi, Rubin and Gamai. Michelle is the new young female. Salemat came back from Rasa Ria in Oct, Alain who is very fluffy and big and is the one who has bitten Caroline, Ceria is a well behaved little one as is Sen but Sen is getting cheekier. Yoda likes to grab you and his feeding bottle and never comes back in once he is on the jungle gym, naughty. Ampal is 7 but he is so small and skinny, he is so sweet and loves picking which piece of fruit he wants. Tambi can be naughty sometimes. Rubin is big but is usually well behaved. Gamai is the one who will punch you in the face and pull your hair out as we have experienced. We brought all the juveniles’ back in for lunch but surprise surprise Yoda refused to co-operate so we had to leave him out there. When we returned in the afternoon one of the nurses managed to grab him and put him back into his cage – big achievement! After doing the afternoon feed and clean we decided to bath Michelle and Matamis as they hadn’t been out in ages due to them having diarrhoea. They were so well behaved and enjoyed the time out of their cages. At the nurses request we all began work on cleaning the juveniles play cage, it was disgusting and never ending. Unfortunately we finish the day without completing the task…..something to look forward to in the morning lol

Fri 15^th Jan – This morning it was raining so we couldn’t take any of the orangs out to play. Instead we cleaned some cages and bathed Sen and Ceria. Sen was unsure at first but ended up splashing around and making a big mess. Ceria didn’t like the water on his face but loved drying in the towel. Neither of them wanted to go back into the cages. When Caroline was sweeping the juveniles area Gamai decided to grab her hair and smashed her face against the bars – ouch!! In the afternoon we did the usual feed and clean and then sat with the babies in the big play cage because it was too wet to take them out. Whilst sat in there a visitor arrives at the clinic, Oscar, a large adult male from the jungle. He tried to enter the babies cage whilst the babies and us were trapped inside. We had to shout for help and pull on the cage door to stop him opening it and coming inside. The babies were so scared and so were we lol Later we finished cleaning the juveniles play cage.

Sat 16^th Jan – A very productive morning. We washed Tambi and he loved it. He kept jumping from one sink to the other and didn’t want to get out and get dry. We had to let the water out and dry him in the sink before he went back in his cage. Then we took 5 orangs out to the jungle gym. Kirsty carried Michelle out for her first climb in the jungle and she loved it, she kept trying to copy the older ones. Ceria was a good boy as usual and was swinging around like tarzan. Selamat and Alan were good until it was time to come in and we had to bribe them with bananas. Gamai was naughty as usual biting people and refusing to go in his cage but us two managed to force him in with the help of the nurse. After lunch Caroline cleaned the babies cages and we bathed all of the babies and gave them lots of cuddles.

Sun 17^th Jan – Today we put 6 of the juveniles in the big play cage and put the babies in their play cage too. It was raining and we had no power or water so we had to put buckets out to collect rain water to be able to clean everything and wash our hands. We decided to bath Rubin and he really liked stamping in the water to splash us but didn’t like it when we poured water on his head. He kept hold of Kirsty’s hand the whole time. He is quite a big juvenile but seems like a gentle giant and just wants fuss. After that we played with the babies for a while then washed Kala and Wulan. Kala loved it and sat down in the water and relaxed whereas Wulan kept a firm hold on Caroline and kept cuddling into her making Caroline all wet and soapy too.

Mon 18^th Jan – We awoke to a bright room and amazing weather. We rushed to the clinic to get all the feeding and cleaning done enabling us to take advantage of the weather and take some orangs out. In the morning we took out Gamai, Yoda, Alan, Ampal, Rubin and Tambi. They were so well behaved until it was time to go in then they all started playing up and biting. We managed to get them all in apart from Yoda and Alan who were nesting up a tree. We left them there while we had lunch. In the afternoon we put all the juveniles in the big play cage while we took out the babies. When we were playing with the babies we spotted an orang on top of the juveniles cage, it was Gamai! He had broken a bar on the cage and escaped. We had to catch him and return all the juveniles to their night cages. Very frustrating as we had just spent days cleaning the big play cage for them!

Tues 19^th Jan – Another great morning, Anekara arrived back from KK after having her leg operation. She looked so cute with her leg in plaster. We fed and cleaned all the orangs and took out Selamat, Tambi, Rubin, Sen, Ceria and Ampal. They were so well behaved and loved playing in the trees. This was the first time we got them all back into their cages without any problems, result! The afternoon brought a storm so we couldn’t take any of the orangs out to play; instead we bathed the babies and Nonong, a paralysed orang that was covered in sick. A very productive day!

Weds 20^th Jan – took out Selamat, Rubin, Ampal and Gamai in the morning. Caroline cleaned Ampals cage while he was out playing nicely as it was disgusting. In the afternoon we took out Wulan, Tara, Kala, Matamis, Michelle and Nonong.

Thurs 21^st Jan – Last day of work. We bathed some of them but Gamai obviously didn’t want to be bathed and hid under the table refusing to go near the sink so we had to put him back in. In the afternoon we took out Wulan, Tara, Matamis, Michelle and Nonong as Kala had diarrhoea. Unfortunately Michelle ate some itchy leaves and her lips became swollen and sore so we had to try and get her to drink water but it hurt her lips so she didn’t want to. We kept them out until gone 4pm so that we could get some professional pictures taken of us with the orangs. It was amazing! Before putting them in for the night we gave them some fruit and little Wulan loved her fruit so much that she ended up with purple/pink colour all around her lips. She looked like a little girl playing dress up wearing lipstick. She kept puckering her lips out to us for a kiss and she looked so cute giving kisses wearing lipstick.

Fri 22^nd Jan – Today was our day off so we decided to have a lay in and then head to the tourist platform to see the Orangs playing one last time. Unfortunately the weather was really bad so we didn’t see many. As we began walking to the exit we were trapped by some angry male macaques, we didn’t want to risk walking past them so we decided to walk back the way we came in. However, that boardwalk was also covered in macaques, we got some sticks and tried to scare them but it had the reverse effect….they started chasing us and bearing their teeth. We all ran away screaming!

The leaving party was tonight and we all had quite a bit to drink and lets say it was an eventful night lol. The food was great and so was the music and we danced all night long.

Sat 23^rd Jan – We flew out of Sandakan to KK where we stayed in our 5* resort one last time. Some of us went to the night watch and it was really cool seeing the deer laying down to sleep. One of the deer came and poked his head through the opening we were watching through and was touching Caroline’s hand with his wet nose.

Sun 24^th Jan – We have spent the morning horse riding along the beach. We even went into the sea on horseback. This is the life. We fly at 19:15 and after three different flights and a stop at the amazing Singapore airport we will arrive in Australia at 17:30 on the 25^th of Jan – Bring it on!

Mon 25^th Jan – After the spending the night sleeping on some chairs outside the hotel in Singapore airport and flying all day we finally arrived in Sydney, Australia. We got the shuttle bus into the city and checked into our hostel. We spent the next two nights in a six bed dorm. On the 26^th, Australia day we went to the museum and then wandered around the park where people were celebrating. That evening we went to the harbour and watched an amazing firework display. The next day we checked out and changed hostels because the woman on reception was so rude. We booked into Wake up hostel, one of the largest and most modern in Sydney. Of course this was reflected in the price and it was expensive just for our beds in the 8 bed dorm but it was so much nicer. After checking in, we managed to complete all our chores. We got our bank account set up, a sim card registered and a medicare card. Later on we had dinner in china town, yum, prawn crackers.

Thur 28^th Jan – We booked a campervan for our road trip – woo hoo!! Can’t wait. Afterwards we visited Bondi beach and walked along the cliff top and relaxed in a café before doing a nice bit of shopping. The next day we went to the wildlife centre and aquarium, it was wicked. We had our photograph taken with a koala and saw kangaroos, wallabies, dugongs and a duck billed platypus. That night 4 of us went out for the traditional Aussie dinner…pie… and then spent hours playing cards together.

Sat 30^th Jan – Today us two and our new friend Sophie decided to visit the zoo. We had to get the ferry across the harbour to get there giving us some amazing views. The zoo was really good and we saw all kinds of animals and shows. That night the 3 of us went out for drinks and of course some chips and cheese on the way home. Once home we got lured into the hostel bar for more drinks and played pool. The next morning we didn’t get up till lunchtime so the 3 of us went for all you can eat pizza hut. We walked up to the harbour and watched some freaky street shows. That night we went out for drinks again but we also did a pub quiz. We came joint 2^nd so we had to do rock, paper, scissors to see which team got the second prize of two beers each and which team got the third prize of one free beer each. We got the third prize so we each got a free schooner of beer.

Mon 1^st Feb – Caroline’s birthday! Today we started off by having an all you can eat pizza hut before walking all the way up to the opera house again (we had already walked up there four times and it is about an hour round trip). Thankfully we managed to do the "essential tour of the opera house" which was interesting. After a mad rush we picked up our campervan woohoo! We took it for its first drive to the supermarket to stock up and then went to collect our bags from the hostel, which took us over an hour because of all the one way streets. At last we set off after saying goodbye to our friend and drove west towards the Blue Mountains. Once it got dark we decided to find somewhere to sleep. We ended up in Penrith parked on a residential road. The camper proved very comfortable and we both had a great sleep.

Tues 2^nd Feb – We jumped out of bed into the front of our camper and began our drive to Katoomba. When we arrived Caroline cooked up a wicked fry up. We sat outside on our comfy deck chairs with a fold out table and enjoyed our first home cooked breakfast in 8 and a half months. We relaxed for a bit before going to scenic world where we rode in a glass bottom cable car, walked for 2 hours around and down the three sister rock formations, rode the steepest funicular railway in the world and saw some amazing views. For the rest of the day we relaxed in our campervan eating and organising where else we want to go on our road trip.

Wed 3^rd Feb – Today we drove up all the windy roads to the Jenolan caves. They were awesome. We went on an adventure caving tour on a route called the plughole. We had to squeeze through really tiny spaces it was so much fun. After we finished we drove all the way back to Sydney and spent the night on a road in Bondi with a beer and a takeaway. The next morning we decided to leave the campervan in Bondi and get the train to central Sydney to avoid the stress of parking. We managed to pick up our bankcards and our post and get there and back on the train before our free parking ended. After that we got in the camper and headed up north to Newcastle. Once there, we went to a really lovely caravan park right on Stockton beach. In the evening we had jacket potatoes made in the camper and a beer. After dinner we got a ferry over to the centre to meet our friend Amanda whom we had met at our orangutan project. It took us over an hour to get there and the ferry crossing only took 3 minutes so it was a lot more walking than we thought when we had looked at the map. We had an awesome dinner and lots of schooners before moving the harbour bar where we sat next to the water and drank some more. Got the last ferry back at 11:00pm.

Sat 6^th Feb – This morning we drove from Newcastle up to Port Stephens. When we arrived we walked along the harbour and ended up buying a bodyboard. We spent the afternoon at our campsite bodyboarding in the freezing cold sea before deciding to go in the heated pool, which was lovely. The next day we went dolphin watching, amazing. We saw 3 dolphins and they all swam so close to the boat when we were in the boom net. The boom net was fun it was a net hanging off the side of the boat that we sat in as the boat was following the dolphins. Afterwards we set off for port macquarie, on the way we saw a horse show so decided to pull over and watch. We were kitted out with our deckchairs, drinks, sandwiches and of course tortilla chips with humous and salsa – very enjoyable! That evening we went body boarding in freezing water again and spent the night in the beach carpark. The night consisted of beers and peanuts for starters and beers and pesto pasta for main and beers and chocolate digestives for desert. Oh and lots of games of cards, uno and the backpacker game. Wicked day.

Mon 8^th Feb – Drove from Port macquarie to Coffs harbour. Our new camp site was wicked with a jumping pillow (a large trampoline/bouncy castle thing) and a pool with slides. We spent the day relaxing and playing in the pool and on the jumping pillow. Early the next morning we visited the koala hospital and saw a baby koala and watched some of them get given their medicine. It was nice but some of the stories about previous koalas that had died were sad. Next we went on to Timbertown. It was a park built to be like the timber town in the 1800s. We spent most of the time there stroking the horses but we did watch a bullock demonstration, ride a penny farthing bike, did some wine tasting and of course some chips with gravy. In the afternoon we went to the porpoise pool. There we put our hands in the water and when we were patient the dolphins would come and swim under our hands so we could stroke them. They also came up to the edge of the pool, put their head over the side and gave you a kiss on the cheek. When all the other tourists had gone, us two played catch with the dolphins while we waited for the seals to come out. When the seals were ready we got into the pool with Solomen a very large male seal and he swam round the pool with us on his back. He was so strong. Then we met pearl a female and she jumped onto our backs like a piggy back and we fed her some fish. The cutest one was Maxine and we played with her for ages playing piggy in the middle and throwing things for her to swim and get. She loved kisses though and kept swimming over and putting her face onto our cheeks for kisses and wrapping her fins around us for a cuddle. She was so lovely. After an excellent day we drove to Byron bay and almost ran out of petrol, very scary!. After ages of driving around in the dark we finally managed to find a campsite with space for us, YAY

Weds 10^th Feb – Today we checked out the local town stopping for a lunchtime treat, Hogs Breath Café, where Kirsty had nachos. That night we went out to a nightclub called cheeky monkeys. We drank lots of Tooheys our favourite beer and there was lots of competitions going on which included people taking there clothes off if they lost a coin toss. The girl that won that game was jumping around in only her knickers when she won. Needless to say we watched from afar and kept our clothes on. Once the games finished everyone was dancing on the tables and having a good night, great atmosphere. When we left we searched for somewhere that sold chips and nowhere did so we walked back to the camper and went to bed.

Thurs 11^th Feb – This morning we woke up tired and soldiered on as we had to drive to surfers paradise. We made one stop along the way at palm beach, which was a gorgeous little bay. Once at surfers paradise we set up camp and went bodyboarding again. The beach was lovely, the waves were big and the water wasn’t freezing. Afterwards we went for a dip in the pool before chilling out all afternoon.

In the three months we worked in Croydon we only had 2 days off. The first was to go to Karumba on Good Friday and the second was when Glen took us to his cattle station, Mittagong.

KARUMBA - One of the local boys took us to Karumba for the day. It’s a little fishing town next to the sea but we couldn’t go swimming as there was too many crocodiles. Had a lovely lunch, caroline had fish and chips and kirsty had pie.

MITTAGONG - When we first got there we watched some cattle being sorted and loaded onto a double decker road train (a very large truck). Its was very early and already it was very dusty and hot. Then we drove out in the ute to where the ATV’s were kept. Glen drove the ATV with both of us on the back, Caroline kept jumping off to open the gates. We drove out into the bush over creeks and knocking over small trees that got in our way. We each took it in turns to go in the helicopter to experience mustering in the helicopter. It was scary at first as the helicopter had no sides and it kept diving and spinning to move the cattle towards the yard. After a full day of mustering we managed to get all the cattle into the yard expect one bull that didn’t want to co-operate. In the end one of the utes pushed it all the way into the yard, it was very funny! On the way back we stopped off for some target practice. Glen got out his Rifle and set both of us two targets which were small water bottles. We both hit the targets perfectly. Afterwards we went to find a kangaroo to practice some more but for the first time ever couldn’t find any. Back to the pub for a few beers. Great day!

Memories

TRANSPORT - As most people in Croydonshire live on stations some of them fly their helicopters to the pub to collect beer.

ENTERTAINEMENT - With not much to do in Croydon the locals make their own entertainment by playing the guitar and having a sing song.

FLOODING - In the wet season many places in Australia get severely flooded preventing people leaving their stations. Supplies are then flown in. When we first arrived in Croydon there were lots of people trying to get to the next town but because the roads were covered with water (1m high) they were stuck for 2 weeks.