Off On Our Next Adventure

Tioman Island

The two hour ferry trip to Tioman was calm under sunny skies, a welcome change from our intense car ride.

After docking at Tekek jetty, we made our way to our accommodation. Walking along the road in the afternoon heat with all our bags was a bit of a mission, with several complaints lodged by a very red-faced Leo along the way. All the hardship was quickly forgotten when we reached our destination and were greeted by Uli and Ebek at The Station, who had ice-cold welcome drinks ready for us…those Sprites and Cokes didn’t stick around long! We also had yummy baguettes prepared by Ebek for our late lunch.

Our chalet was pretty rustic, but we loved its charm, and with air-conditioning and a fan, we were cool and comfortable. Anna was very taken with the mosquito nets, declaring them beds fit for a prince and princess, and king and queen.

After checking in and having lunch, the rest of the afternoon was spent on the beach.

Our second day on Tioman began with a special moment…a monitor lizard wandering across our pathway as we left our cabin!

The rest of the day was very lazy and relaxing, spent in the sea, on the beach, in the hammock, or sitting in the open-air cafe catching up with our family back home before heading along the beach to get some dinner. We’ve quickly discovered that when we eat at places catering for tourists and western tastes, we pay WAY more than eating the local food. For breakfast, we had walked into the village and eaten freshly made roti for RM1 (35 cents NZ) and egg roti for RM3 (about $1NZ), both served with a curry gravy. Due to the combination of deliciousness and value for money, this became our staple breakfast for the rest of our stay. It was hypnotically soothing to watch the cook take balls of dough and expertly manipulate them into flat, folded raw roti that then transformed into a fluffy, flaky, crispy roti on the hotplate.

Great snorkelling

Leo couldn’t get enough of the snorkelling where we were staying…he spent a good 3 hours each day face down in the water, snorkel bobbing above the surface, with the odd exclamation emanating from it as he observed the magical underwater world below.

An island hopping and snorkelling trip has been organized by Hildi for the Sunday, and we were given fresh fruit for the journey before the young skipper Shafi picked us up in his boat, with a German couple who were also keen to come along.

The trip started out pleasantly, heading out to a nearby island with golden sand that was the texture of fine flour and amazing tropical fish. We then tried snorkelling just off the island at a rock formation called Batu Beruk that Shafi  translated as “bad rock”. It was a good plan wearing life jackets (not that Shafi insisted we wear them – we just chose to) because it really helped with guiding the kids in deep water without having to use too much energy. As we returned to the boat, Shafi pointed to the big black clouds on the horizon, saying we needed to head back to Tioman to avoid the bad weather. We were happy with this call, and Shafi took us back to Salang Bay for a little more snorkelling and then a lunch stop at Salang Village.

As we disembarked for lunch, the torrential rain arrived, and we quickly found a sheltered spot to change into some warmer clothes…who on earth brings merino tops to SEA? Me! I was beginning to question this seemingly ridiculous addition to our packing, however I’ve done enough boat and canoing trips to know that when you get out of the water in wet things and take off life jackets, you can get very cold very quickly (yes, even in the tropics) and boy were our kids grateful for their merinos in their shivering state!

We ate a hot lunch; burgers for the kids and noodle soup for Shaun and I, which warmed us all up. Then we sat and waited for the rain to stop…but it just kept on raining, and began to get windy as well. We went down to the beach to meet Shafi at the agreed time, but he couldn’t get the boat back into the beach, so he pointed to the jetty, signaling that we should meet him there. We collected the German couple on our way and arrived at the jetty steps, soaked through before climbing across another boat to get into our one. Shaun and I strapped the kids and ourselves back into life jackets and braced ourselves for the trip back.  It was pretty rough at times, even though we were close to the shore for most of the journey. Shaun had a tight hold on both kids to keep them in the boat and protect them from the ocean spray that kept showering us throughout the rather grim trip back. Unimaginable relief swept over me as we turned into Tekek marina and finally got out of the rough sea. We then had to clamber over several boats to get onto the jetty, lifting the kids across as we went…thankfully the lovely German couple helped us. We walked back to The Station in our togs through torrential rain, thunder, and lightning. Needless to say, we spent the rest of the afternoon in our chalet, quietly enjoying books and screentime as the thunderstorm raged outside.

OPINION PIECE by Leo

Health and Safety on Tioman vs New Zealand

The difference in health and safety in NZ and Tioman Island is huge and a lot more dangerous (is what Dad says) but it is way more fun here, from going in the back of a truck to driving a motorbike without a helmet this is health and safety in New Zealand vs Malaysia.

In New Zealand, there are many health and safety laws, such as having to wear helmets on motorbikes and only being able to go on boats in good weather. But Tioman is different it has about half of New Zealand’s boring laws terminated, and it is amazing.
When we went to Tioman Island me and Dad and Mum and Anna went on motorbikes [scooters actually] without a helmet! We even saw people with children and even babies not wearing helmets! But overall, it was really fun and we got to go along the island.

We also went on a snorkelling trip, but then a storm came and we went to the beach but not to evacuate we just went there to have lunch! And then we went through the storm back to the area we were staying. And the guy driving the boat even asked if we should keep snorkelling! But obviously we went back to the cabin.

And when we went on the jungle tour, we got to sit in the back of a truck! It is genuinely stupid that this is illegal in New Zealand and just because of it I want to run for Prime Minister, make it so these things aren’t illegal and get Cheeto Puffs shipped to New Zealand 🙂 Anyway, we went on the jungle tour and had a good time and saw rafflesia which actually doesn’t smell bad so I don’t know what people are on about.
And that is what laws are completely terminated on Tioman that stay in New Zealand.

Disclaimer: Leo’s opinion is not shared by his parents! I would also like to add that I didn’t go faster than 15km  on my scooter with Anna, leading Leo to remark that I may as well be driving a mobility scooter! There really wasn’t a single helmet in sight on Tioman. With a good sealed road and very little other traffic, this is one of the only places we felt that it would be safe to hire a scooter.

The Interior

The following day dawned bright and sunny, the only remnants of the storm were the branches and flowers strewn over the pathways at The Station. We were ready by 10 am for our jungle walk with our guide Ari, who picked us up in his ute and drove us up the hill to the middle of the jungle. Tioman is an interesting island, with its beautiful tropical beaches flanking the coast and a lush, dense jungle interior, full of monkeys, snakes, lizards and spiders, as well as beautiful trees and the illusive rafflesia flowers.

Ari took us to see several of these huge flowers (which seem to have the texture of a hard fungus) growing in the jungle, and they were so beautiful. They are known as the ‘corpse flower’ because they supposedly emit a bad smell, but the Tioman ones didn’t seem to smell at all. The buds before flowering look like purple cabbages attached to the branches of the vine.

Next, we got to meet one of the many chameleons living on Tioman. Ari found a family living in a tree and invited one to crawl onto his palm branch before asking if Shaun wanted it on his hat. He asked Leo first, who politely declined but posed with it instead. You can see from the photo how the chameleon’s tail blends in with the leaves in the background, the top matches the palm and his underside was beginning to turn grey to match the hat. After a minute or so, Ari returned our friend to his family.

Our next stop was the waterfall, where the kids couldn’t get into their togs fast enough. It was a beautiful spot, and we got to see some huge ants while we were here, avoiding stepping on them in bare feet when getting changed!

Juara Beach

Lunch was at Juara Beach on the eastern side of the island, which was stunning. Before we discovered The Station, we had planned to stay over this side but we decided that it would be easier to stay where the majority of the villages were.

After we returned from our adventures with Ari, we spent our last afternoon relaxing, in the chalet, on the hammocks and playing on the beach and in the water.

While the hammocks looked and felt idyllic at the time, I got eaten alive by some kind of insect while snoozing on one and was covered in bites all down the side of one leg and arm, which became super itchy over the proceeding days. I was glad I packed lots of antihistamine cream!

Anna’s Tioman Highlights

We had a delicious last dinner on Tioman…the kids ordered seafood and chicken nasi goreng, and Shaun and I shared a whole seabass that had been fried to crispy perfection, and then smothered with an incredibly flavorsome sweet and sour salsa with pineapple, peppers, chillies and more. We hadn’t taken our phones to dinner so didn’t get a photo, but it is a very special culinary memory!