Hello,

I am currently sat on a bench waiting for a guy to return with the key for a scooter I am going to rent for the day. This morning I woke up to the sound of gentle waves hitting the rocks below my room and decided to open another letter from Tara, she really is the cutest person I know! As I lay reading the 'story' in bed I had a huge smile on my face and again it reminded me how good the past 2 months have been.

After breakfast I got my things organised and took a small boat across the bay for about 10 mins to the main town on the island Tekek. Here I had a walk around trying to find a bike to rent for the day so I can head over to the other side of the island as suggested by Grant and his family. I asked in a shop after being told lots were already booked and a nice gentleman led me to this place. I am still sat here waiting for this key to arrive and look forward to a day of exploration. I promise I'll be careful!

Good afternoon...

Well this really is paradise! I am currently sat on a sun bed, 5m from the sea and today is now a chill day!

Eventually the guy came back with a key for one of the bikes and after a trip to the ATM to get some cash I took the left turn to head over the island. As I turned off the road in Tekek there was a sign showing how steep the road was. Now I'm no expert but when it says 45 degree accent I know that that's pretty steep!

The road was pretty bumpy but was concrete all of the way. It was a typical mountain road that I have used when skiing but this time it was through the jungle. When I say jungle I mean serious jungle and often I had to navigate around monkeys in the road. It took around 30 mins to reach Juara, where I am now, and this is the only town on this side of the island. The beaches are even more impressive, golden and as its in a natural bay the sea is calmer.

I drove along the path to the far right end of the bay and bumped into a couple that were also on the bus over from Singapore. I said hi and they told me where they were staying. They told me it was on the beach and was lovely so I decided to head there for the day and for lunch.

So here I am, The Beach Shack in Juara on Tioman Island. I have just creamed up and sat down on the sun bed. Along the beach are shacks available for backpackers to stay in and they look really cool. I think this is the kind of place Tara would like as its quirky, on the beach, run by locals and also next door to a turtle sanctuary. It's very exiting to think my next holiday will be with her!

I'm going to put my IPod in for an hour, have a rest and then have some lunch! I just hope nobody pinches by bike or I might just have to stay here. Bye for now! X

Hi again,

Having just polished off a burger and chips I'm ready for a sleep. But before I do I thought I'd share with you how amazing it is to be here....

Good evening!

Wow what an afternoon! As I type this on my final night on Tioman Island I have just achieved one of the main things I wanted to do whilst I was here. This next paragraph might seem a little strange but I wanted to prove I could do it.

Inspired by Bear Grylls a few months ago a purchased a survival kit from eBay. The main part of it being a flint that that you can use to light a fire. When I put Tioman on my list of destinations it was with this in mind as I presumed there would be a little beach somewhere that I could put myself to the test. An hour and a half a go I arrived back at Panuba after a fantastic day out, more about that later. I got my flint from my room and of I went in search of wood and the perfect place. I walked right out of Panuba along the path to Monkey Bay. I had only walked around 100m when I came across the next little beach and at the end of it an area of huge rocks. I collected what I could find and gave it a go. Nothing!

I needed a change of plan. I changed to another area which was more sheltered and found some old dry wood that I could break down. It took ages and ages but eventually I began to see some embers. After the embers came smoke but it wasn't taking! I walked back to the path and found a pile of dry leaves. I picked up a few along with some more bits of wood and went back. Next the flint broke, a piece snapped off the end! Determined to get my fire going I stuck at it and just as I was about to give up I seamed to get the hang of it! A few more attempts later and I had done it! I had fire! I carefully blew the 1cm piece of wood that was on fire and fed the flames with dried leaves. It worked and I started to add small twigs! As the sun was setting behind me and the waves rolled in the only thing missing was my camera. I set up my fire to last and then dashed back to my room. I collected my camera and phone, along with a coke and a Magnum Ice Cream and returned as quick as I could. I was just in time and after another 5 mins of carefully blowing and adding more wood I had a fully raging fire!! It was going, it was big and giving off lots of heat! At this point I decided it was time for a swim! I ran to the sea like an excited little boy and loved looking back at the smoke coming from my fire! It was a great reward for my hard work!

I then came back to my fire and sat on the rock when I am now. The fire was roaring and I sat and ate my Magnum and drank my coke as the sun set on the horizon!

As the last few pieces of wood burn off again I feel lucky to be here. I have just done something I wanted to achieve and although it might seem a little strange to you... If you can't build your own fire on a desert island, where can you?

Now... Back to this afternoon which turned out to be a little more eventful than I had planned. After my burger I had a lie down on the beach for about half an hour before deciding it was time to head back over the mountain on my bike. Now as none of the dials worked on the bike I didn't know how much petrol I had used or how much was left! I asked a local lad if I would have enough petrol for a trip over and back and he said. 'of course.' With this in mind I set off taking a few Go Pro shots along the way!

I then got the the first steep part and as I reached the top two cars passed me, one in each direction. I then proceeded to go down the other side of the first hill and then up and down the second when all of a sudden the bike cut out! It wouldn't start for anything and when I checked the tank it was empty! s***!

I said a few explicits and then a few more before taking a moment to collect my thoughts. I was in the middle of the jungle, I had a bottle of water and a flint and it was a long way home. I decided to turn around and head back in the direction I had come from as I knew it wasn't too far. I pushed the bike back up the hill I had just come down, remember these are 45 degree hills, and when I reached the top I was shattered! It's 32 degrees celsius by the way!

I took a rest and then free wheeled down the hill as far as I could. I got off when it stopped and started pushing again. Half way up I saw a car coming! I stopped them, by blocking the road, and asked for help. They said they didn't have any fuel and couldn't help as they were agents or something! I thought they were nobs to be honest!

I carried on pushing and when I reached the top I had done it! Lucky I had only gone down twice since I left the village so now I could free wheel all the way back down to sea level! As I was doing this I thought of Grandpa Frank who frequently used to do this in Tenerife in the hire car with Grandma Pat going mad in the passenger seat! He would be proud of me as today I managed to free wheel for about 15 mins!!

When I got go the beach again the bloody shop was shut! As it's the end of Ramadan everyone is celebrating, which didn't help the fact I needed some fuel! I went from house to house, hut to hut, asking if I could buy some and eventually a man called Naza and his father Hamza helped me. Hamza disappeared on his bike and 5 mins later came back with a water bottle full of petrol. We put it in, I gave them 10 ringgit and off I went! Cheers guys!

The bike was back in action and I loved riding it all the way back over to Tekek, the main town where I had started. I dropped it back off with the guy I rented it off and breathed a huge sigh of relief, what a day, what an adventure! Perfect!

I then got the boat back to Panuba and cracked on with my fire. As the light fades and the moon comes out I think I should head back to my room. I'm going to get myself packed up and ready to leave as tomorrow my flight now takes off at 10am! It has been moved forward two hours which is great as it means I arrive in Kuala Lumpur sooner and have more time there!

For now I'm signing off from Tioman. It is a place to escape to and place of natural beauty. A place I have done many amazing things in and a place I have loved!

Over and out!

Tom x

Ps... Tara has just popped up on WhatsApp... #bigsmile