Week 10 (only 7 left!) started on Thursday 21 July. After a 5 night stay which they extended to six (we must be doing something right), the guests in the beach house moved on to their next stop. As if Langkawi isn't far enough away "from it all", their next stop is the only other inhabited island in the archipelago - Pulau Tuba. They may well be acting all Robinson Crusoe - but by the time we found the Marble Jetty for their local ferry trip, we felt like Christopher Columbus must have when he spotted his first Indian in America. The Marble Jetty is obviously one of these places that locals know about... "sort of" in between the Kuah Jetty and kind of "next to" The Royal Yacht Club. Not really either... but down a driveway where the sign saying 'Pantai Marble' is at the bottom of the hill... instead of at the top, at road level, where it might do some good. Suffice to say it's not on Google Maps... and everything is on Google Maps. Anyway - got there, bid them a fond farewell and left them contemplating whether to charter a boat for 100 RM / A$35... or wait for an hour or more for enough people to fill a public ferry for 10 RM each... in the heat of the day, we would have decided immediately. Face it, how often is it possible for the average person to charter a boat!? The afternoon saw the three of us continue our Kuah outing and visit the home of Ekin, Azar and their mum (and assorted brothers, children, neices etcs) for Roti Jala. The only Roti or 'bread' we've not yet tried. As it turns out it's a sticky, lemon coloured lattice that's then rolled up and used to eat a lush chicken curry with... Noria has an Indian background and is an amazing cook. The curry was so good it was very hard to resist snuffling it all up, with or without a roti. Speaking of, we were talking about some of the funny translations you see when everything is subtitled into Malay... Ekin told us about a movie she saw where everyone was raising their glasses and saying in English "Toast! Toast! Toast!" and the subtitle guru had translated it to "Roti Bakar! Roti Bakar! Roti Bakar!" which is of course bread, fried or for that matter 'baked'. Of course... toast! We contributed some packets of the Australian national biscuit, Tim Tams, which the kids adored. During Joan's stay we've been waiting for a particular sort of day and Friday dawned to be that day. Slightly overcast, ocean was mirror-flat, not too hot (too cold is never actually an option here). So we jumped in the car at 8.30 am and headed up to the Tanjung Rhu pier to finally have a go at the Mangrove Tour. We are not fans of doing touristy things twice so have been waiting patiently for Joan's trip in order to do this activity. We had no interest in sharing a boat and ducking and weaving just to get some photos... so avoided the big official pavilion and headed down to the little boat-guy shack near by - where a boat for 2 hours is only 200 RM instead of the official 350 RM. Love being able to charter a boat for about A$65. The three of us jumped in and off we went, spread amongst all the seats and enjoying the shade from the canopy. What did we see? What didn't we see would be easier - Gorilla mountain (shaped like, not actually home to), a small pod of dolphins, gem-like waters, pocket handkerchief beaches, the Bat Cave (as it turns out, bats smell a bit like grubby armpits... who knew), Mangroves (of course), The Crocodile Cave (no actual crocs... perhaps thus named because it's like floating into the maw of a beast), we saw a short fish show at one of the Floating Restaurants when we stopped for a coffee, then eagles feeding off the water and finally back to the dock - 2 hours and an amazing tour - ideal for folks with short attention spans as there was something happening constantly and hooning about in a motor boat is always fun. Finally, after about 7 weeks, the beach restaurant at Tanjung Rhu has reopened and we got the chance to try it out. Phenomenal value given its location - tried a goodly selection of little dishes and it was only 34 RM for the 3 of us including coffees - about A$12. We are looking forward to returning to Ireland - but we know the prices are going to come as a rude shock after the lack of expense here. Saturday saw a bit of a rest day after all the activity - dropped the beach house linens off at the Dobi (laundry) - makes taking care of the Air BnB guests easier. Took a drive, pottered about the 2 RM Shop (that's A$0.66) and in the evening watched Alice in Wonderland (with Johnny Depp) on the telly. There was a method to our madness because Through the Looking Glass is on the movies and we wanted to see the original before trotting off to the sequel. Sunday ended up being "to do" day and we knocked over the massive list in the morning - even had to drop the lawnmower off for a service and new blades. Now takes 8 hours for James to cut the lawn over a few days - thankfully it's perfectly flat but still putting a lot of wear and tear on the mower. We visited the Ooki bundle store and managed to find me another pair of winter PJs and a sweatshirt/dress to pair with some leggings and wellies in the cooler weather (grand total of 8 RM... or say A$3... last of the big spenders, that's us). We headed home for a rest then back into Kuah for dinner at the Indian joint then over to the movies for Through the Looking Glass - even better than the first one (though it wasn't a critical success). Turns out Kuah comes alive at night - coloured lights everywhere and the general air of tropical decrepitness was no longer apparent. On Monday we continued our spending spree and took Joan to the 2 RM shop for gifts and souvenirs... almost 50 RM! The shop almost shut after our visit. Here's a for instance. In May I bought a cute watch from the St Vincent's shop in Enniscorthy for €1. It was going to cost €5 for a battery. Waited until we got here... spent 5 RM on a battery - about A$1.80/€1.20. Thought that was a bargain. Found a card of 10 batteries at the 2RM Shop - which works out to A$0.07 per battery. Turns out 2 of my watches take the same size battery. Have 20 on hand now... watches will die of old age before I ever need to pay for another watch battery. We had lunch at our fave ikan bakar lunch joint in Padang Matsirat. We are now honoured repeat customers and it seems to be getting cheaper every time we visit. Now 20 RM/A$7/€4.50 for the 3 of us including a coffee and 2 fresh apple juices. Amazing. Also amazing is that Joan's 2 week visit is coming to an end - Tuesday we spent around the house enjoying the pool and the grounds and then went to the night market in the early evening. There is now a stand that sells fish and chips - 3 pieces of crumbed fish and some chips for 8 RM/A$3 - very economical amongst 3 people then we spent an hour or two helping with Joan's packing... whilst some strategic packing advice was provided, we must admit that 'helping' was more about us sending a few things home that we no longer need... Wednesday was mopping up day - we visited our local friends and they had made a traditional Malay outfit as a souvenir of Joan's visit - very posh indeed. Had lunch at the regular joint, picked up the mended lawnmower and eventually visited the Oriental Village - bit of necessity shopping (new handbag Joan... new white pants Viv) and then it was a final dinner at the fish restaurant on the beach near home, Scarborough and off to the airport. Where we confirmed once and for all that the duty free shops at the airport are in fact the most expensive places on the island to buy anything... Malibu 80+ RM vs 38 RM at our local supermarket. Daylight, airport-sanctioned, robbery. Fond farewells and thus the holiday ended. Tomorrow we are back into the Air BnB side of the housesit as we mow lawns, clean the villa and get the guest house sorted out for a family of 4 arriving from Belgium next week. Busy, busy!