That night Steve and I met the rest of the group for our upcoming tour which included a few more Ozzies one of which was my room mate Dee, a group of Scandies, a German, an American and a couple from Korea along with our tour guide Omar. After the usual introductions we headed off to a local restaurant to eat as a lot of people had flown in that day most people went swiftly off to bed however from that night on Steve, Dee and myself were to become thick as thieves with the night carrying on with pitchers of rum and singing along to very chessy songs.

The next morning was an early start - which tended to become a pattern for this trip - as we boarded the coach to head off on our first journey to Kota Kinabalu national park. Now if the early mornings were one new regular occurence another was to be the rain all the way was a persistent rain that would not go away!! That evening we stayed in some gorgeous little cabins in the middle of the jungle and headed off for our mountain briefing and a massive dinner. As the briefing began and we were given the facts of the mountain and what the next two days would entail I'm not gonna lie I bottled it and declared there and then that I would not be doing the climb which by the way has a summit of 4095m so a little bit daunting. Instead of the climb and with the rain ever present I checked into my new hostel room and basically read and drank cups of tea the whole night as it was FREEZING which I dont know is entirely true or if its just coz Im not used to cold weather anymore??

The next morning I waited at the national park registration building for the group to return from the climb first down was Steve having made it down in only 2 hours which was to soon come back and bite him in the arse as his legs gave way and he had no feeling in his knees for pretty much the rest of the day which resulted in us quickly nick naming him Bambi :) Unfortunately no one reached the summit either as the weather was too bad. That evening was a quiet one with some room service as understandably no one had much energy left and the next day was to begin at 6am.

We boarded the coach for our next part of the tour which started with a 6 hour coach journey to Kinbatangan River, just as we thought the weather may be on our side we got off the bus just in time for the rain to come hammering down and boarded our tiny little boats in a crocodile infested river to head to our jungle accomodation. Undeterred that afternoon we headed off on our first wildlife spotting cruise whilst also realising not much might be seen with the weather however after speeding along the river for only 10 mins we were greeted by the sight of a wild adult pygmy elephant!! Our luck was in as two baby elephants joined the adult on the riverside and we watched in awe for nearly an hour to these wild animals a mere 8 feet away without the usual barrier of wires and fences. Suffice to say the sight was enough to give us all a buzz for that evening as we headed back to the hotel for dinner before me, Steve and Dee cracked open the vodka, cranked up the music and talked about life until the early hours.

The next morning began with our 6am river cruise to see what we could spot next along the way there plenty of birds at which point I will admit I was a little bird until we came across a wild Orangutan in the midst of the trees although hard to spot for pictures for me that was the highlight so far that was until that afternoon................... Although the afternoon cruise was included I decided to stay behind as the rain had started again I didnt hold out much hope of seeing anything else. I was sitting in my room reading when I decided to go get a cup of tea (boring so far) as I made my way to the communal area I was beckoned by our driver Rasman who was pointing frantically up the trees, I had no idea what was going on until the owner passed me some binoculars. Low and behole a wild Orangutan was happily swigning and sitting in the tree practically outside my hotel room cue hysterics from me I spent the remaining hour before the group came back watching my favourite ever creature and trying to contain my excitement for the groups return. As soon as they did I bounded up to the group and declared my sighting whilst explaining where it was spotted to see if it was still there unfortunately much to everyones disappointment it had gone and I was definitely glad I stayed back - especially after I learnt that the group got up close and personal with a reptile I would not like near me. We finished the evening the best we know how you guessed it with some more flavoured vodka, yummy food and great company all in all pretty perfect.

The next day was the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most, Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary where rescued Orangutans are treated back to health and then hopefully returning to the wild. Luckily for the first time there was no rain yay!! So back in the boats then on to the coach for a 2 hour journey straight to the sanctuary just in time for the 10am feeding time. We waited patiently for a while as we were told spottings were not always guaranteed so imagine our surprise when 4 orangutans came out for feeding time followed by a mother Orangutan with her 7 day old baby which had only come out once so far since birth!! You couldnt tear me away as I watched intently and snapped away to get as many pics as possible - this was the reason for me coming to Borneo and Im not ashamed to say that I felt quite emotional apart from the occasional giggle as I hatched a plan to jump the fence and give one a cuddle although you will be glad to know I didnt. To keep the Orangutans away from too much human contact we then left after about 45 mins to watch an information video about the work they do at Sepilok and facts about these wonderful creatures - many I already knew and had earlier gave Steve a lesson on :) We then went and checked into our new rooms and some of us went back for the afternoon feeding at the sanctuary to watch the cheeky little Orangutans chase each other and swing from rope to rope much to our amusement. That evening we went into town for dinner and then headed back to the hotel for some shisha, wine and UNO where we discussed the next days activities.

So the next morning we left the accomodation greeted by a severe weather warning and you guessed it more rain!! The plan for the day was to go to Turtle Island to stay the night and watch the Turtles come up from the sea and lay their eggs. Off we went to the jetty to be told there was a strong possibility we wouldnt make it however they wanted to try anyway so we boarded the boats with no expectations, as we went further out to see the waves were getting really rough and suffice to say we got soaked. About halfway across we stopped unable to see the island due to the massive swell the decision was made that we wouldnt try and make it as it was too dangerous although many were disappointed I would much better be safe then drown at sea - thank you very much. There were no other plans that day although some of the group went to a crocodile farm - which sounded brutal - I decided to catch up on some sleep after all the early mornings before meeting up in the evening for our usual food and drinking session.

Our last full day together began the next day where we first visited the Sandakan memorial park to commemorate the hundreds of Australian and British soldiers who died at the hands of the Japanese on death marches through Borneo. I thought I knew a fair bit about history but had no idea of these barbaric practices and welled up as I read the story and also the quotes from the only 6 who survived through escaping. After leaving the gardens a little bit more informed we headed to the airport to catch our flight back to KK (shortest flight ever up in the air for all of 15 minutes) where we checked back into our hotel and set about getting ready for our farewell dinner which also combined with an early birthday celebration for Steve but first me and Dee went on a mission to find as many Angry Bird presents as possible for him whilst getting soaked in the process. Our haul was pretty impressive which included flip flops, a pop up watch and a photo frame to put a photo of us in ofcourse!! For the first time in ages we all got dressed up and went out for food and once again lots of pitchers of rum whilst dancing to cheesy music. We presented Steve with his presents before I got the thumbes up from Omar as there was another surprise in store. The singers got him up on stage where we presented him with a cake and a shot whilst everyone sang and Omar got up and sang which was a revelation in its self as he had a really good voice. Karaoke was then suggested so we went off to a bar up a really narrow staircase with flickering lights to find the dingiest little bar which we quickly left and went on to a night club called BED. There was a live band doing remixed covers which were pretty good and we danced the night away before leaving at about 2am and getting some fried rice on the way back much better than the usual drunken feast of doner meat back home. Dee was leaving at 4am for the next part of her trip so we said our goodbyes then before trying to catch some sleep.

So this morning is our last time together before we all go our seperate ways, lots of goodbyes to be said and I know without a doubt I have made friends for life. The positive is that I will now be able to breathe again as when I was with Steve and Dee I laughed so hard I didnt think I would be able to stop!! Im off to get my flight now to Singapore however only an overnighter before I am off to Cambodia the next day. Hope you enjoyed reading and I will update again soon :)