Malaysia - Redang

After inner city life it was time to head back to my island. It was 13 years ago since I stepped foot on Redang's white sand and it felt great to be back. The resort had changed somewhat and now has AC in all rooms but they have managed to develop it without ruining the beach front. My wooden shack was no where to be seen but some old faces were there which brought back great memories.

We booked 4 nights and five days on the island along with a dive package. Due to me being an "Old Boy" we were given a few free dives which was greatly appreciated. The water was a lot warmer than last time which has contributed to the death of a lot of the coral and the exodus of many of the larger fish. We did still managed to spot several sharks, large rays and turtles.

Robert (the guy in the pink shirt) treated us to a meal at the resort's disco Summer Mambo. I chose the butter prawns on recommendation from Dive Master Maison, not to be confused with Open Water Mason.

We spent most of our evenings enjoying ice cold Tigers on the beach and watching the moon rise above the water. Our days were full of diving, enjoying the sun and swimming in the beautiful clear water. Snorkelling from the beach we could watch black tip reef sharks circling us but no sign of any turtles. One afternoon I left Kate cooking in the sun and climbed the northern headland. I had the rock to myself and took some great pictures of the bay. Unfortunately I forgot to put any suncream on and ended up baking myself - sorry Mother!

On alternate nights the BBQs were lit for the guests to cook their own dinner. The food was delicious although the heat from the coals was a little extreme. We cooked chicken satay, squid balls, sweetcorn and big chunks of lamb; luckily we didn't need wet-suits when diving as after the all the food we ate they might not have fitted.

This little fella lived outside our window eating all the mosquitoes. I might introduce a couple to Wareham bog, a very handy pet to have although they can be extremely loud.

We had a great few days on Redang but inevitably we had to leave. Back on the mainland and in Kuala Terengganu I eventually got round to contacting Murad, my Dive Master buddy from 1998. He was delighted to see me although you might not be able to tell from the photo. It was fantastic to see him after all those years and he treated us to a tour of KT, his new dive shop and his house and children. After all that he then took us out for a meal at his favourite restaurant where we were the owners first English guests.

After the heat and humidity of Malaysia's east coast our next adventure took us to the welcome cool of the Cameron Highlands.