Selfie Friday!!!

What is it with selfies?

What shall I do next?

The pool here at Avani is a beautiful infinity pool but there are not too many sunbeds, so we’re surprised to easily get a sunbed in the shade and settle down to read. We’re not there long before a group of Chinese tourists arrive, go in the pool and perform every pose possible all the time taking selfies of themselves. I honestly don’t think they’ve looked at their surroundings. They obviously don’t go to the pool to swim, sunbathe or relax, just to pose and take endless selfies. God knows what they do with so many pictures of themselves.

This process of groups arriving, posing and taking selfies continues all morning and not a stroke was swum by any of them. Finally, an older family arrives, not more selfies, I think. No, they start trying to drown with style because you couldn’t describe their efforts as swimming, more like controlled drowning!

All this picture taking is too much, we retreat to Smiley Beach for a beer and sit there watching the tide come in. Oh no, more Chinese, more selfies!!!

Sunset at Avani

Sun, sea, sand and shopping

I enjoyed sitting on those sunbeds so much that we return for the morning and just watch the world go by. In the afternoon we join the coach for the Mitsui shopping mall and to be honest we have no idea where it is, the journey is an opportunity to see the surrounding countryside. We’ve already given our names and room number to book a place on the coach but, when it arrives, we realise booking was not necessary. It’s a 44-seater coach and there only seems to be 7 of us on it. But first, there’s the essential step of establishing who you are.

We eventually understand the driver is asking for our room number, 093, “mmm, 096? No, 093. Mmm, ok 093.

The next passenger is more complicated, “room number?” “122, I come back”, “ahh, you go mall?” “mmm, I come back” “come back?” “Yes, I go mall, come back!”

There are 3 passengers who are only going to the mall and not coming back! What happens to them Dave and I wonder. When we reach the mall, we realise that there is also a free shuttle bus to the airport, hopefully they reached their destination!

Sepang Motor circuit near the airport and Mitsui Mall

Over-water villas

Paradise is...

We’ve both always dreamed of staying in an over water villa and here at Avani we’re living that dream. The room is large with a high-pitched roof and an exposed thatched roof both on the inside and outside, it’s beautifully cool with both air conditioning and a ceiling fan. This is just as well as it’s a steamy 34⁰C outside and 80% humidity. Dave has woken early and spends a peaceful hour sat outside watching the sun rise, I’m apparently unrousable. Breakfast outside of the main restaurant Bila bila, which in Malay means Anytime, contains every kind of food you could wish for from toast, to omelette and Asian style congee and curry.

Over water villas

The resort is shaped like a palm tree with villas off the trunk and fronds and restaurants at the junction of them. The main reception is a huge round space with a high conical thatched roof and many areas to sit in the cool and admire the beautiful surroundings. The private beach has rattan sunbeds set under palm trees and powdery white sand as far as we can see. This really is a little bit of paradise.

The evening brings a meal at Bia bila with so many groups of Chinese people I think we may have been transported to China. Then there’s the walk to the beach for the fire show. They are a group of 5 or 6 young men and initially I think oh, spice boys as they strut their stuff while twirling their fire sticks all to music. But then the big boys appear, breathing fire. The show continues to hot up with the moves getting ever more daring, one of the guys even stands on the sunbed in front of me swinging fire either side of me! I now understand why these guys have no hair on their chests or face….

Fire show

Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur

Our Australian adventure comes to an end today, it’s time to go to the airport and check in to our flight to Kuala Lumpur. As we approach the check-in line it becomes clear that a good number of Malay people look like they’re moving back to Kuala Lumpur. We’ve never seen so many overstuffed, overweight cases and boxes all destined for the hold of our flight. Every case seems to need to be repacked then reweighed several times before being accepted. Needless to say, this creates pandemonium and an ever-lengthening line to check-in for the flight. I’m getting stressed that we’ll miss the flight, Dave’s just annoyed, “why can’t they just obey the rules!” Eventually, we’re checked in and yes our bags were well under the weight limit! We make a bee line for the airport lounge which, is a haven of peace and quiet.

Arriving at Kuala Lumpur or rather the transit through the airport is just as stressful, trying to follow the signs to baggage reclaim, walking miles, being transported by train to another city, or so it seems. Then there’s the interminably long line for immigration all before we reach the carousel for baggage reclaim. We stand there for ages until we realise someone has removed our bags into a pile on the floor between the carousels! Now the bags have to be x-rayed to go into the country, Dave is beginning to be quite vocal and politically incorrect shall I say!!!

Time to purchase a voucher for a taxi ride, easily done, but we’re both more than a bit edgy when we’re escorted to a quiet area of the terminal before being loaded into the taxi. However, all is well, the taxi ride is smooth and 45 minutes later we’re checking into Avani Sepang Goldcoast resort.

Mount Wellington

It’s more than a bit cloudy today but still worth the drive up to Mount Wellington or Kunanyi as the Aboriginal people call it. It’s at least 10⁰C colder up at the top so today it’s a very chilly 4⁰C, the 2 Dave’s, Toni and I are needing all our layers to keep warm. The clouds keep parting briefly on the way up to the top and for a time keep Hobart and the surrounding area shrouded in cloud and hidden from sight. But, one section at a time the clouds part and show us the various views of Hobart, the Derwent River, the islands and surrounding hills. It’s almost as if nature can’t reveal all of its magnificence at once as it would be too much to take in.

We don’t have time to explore the walking tracks in this area, but we do make time to enjoy lunch sitting outside the Last Freight, the only café up here on Mount Wellington. Afterwards there’s time for a bit of sightseeing around the apartment before we catch the flight back to Melbourne.

Mount Wellington with Hobart in the background