A Hornbill at last!

Having moved onto camp we've been ever hopeful that we would spot a hornbill. There are a group of them who live in the trees here but they have never yet been in our garden. Until today. Outside at lunch with a cup of coffee I spotted this large bird in the tree. And these are the resulting photos and video. He's a very cheeky guy and was not at all intimidated by our presence. Listen to the video tape and you'll hear what I mean!

The House on camp

We moved into PC 31 on Saturday 17th October. Sadly we now know we won't be here in Miri for many months more to enjoy it, but for the time we will have left we are making the most of it. It has 3 bedrooms, open plan lounge/dining and office area, a huge eating kitchen and an enormous patio, along with 3 rooms whcih are amah quaters at the back.

This is the front of the house and the patio, taken from the garden.

This is the lounge and the seating area on the patio. You can see we are surrounded by jungle!

This is the dining area and our bedroom

And this is the one fruit tree we have in the garden that is edible - a papaya! You have to harvest the fruits quickly or the birds get them.Locals put plastic bags around the fruit as it ripens.

Pantomime

The pantomime Cinderella has occupied the inhabitants of Piasau Camp for the last few months. Some 120 people have been involved, as actors, backstage crew, costumes designers, set design and so on. Great fun was had by all and a 5 great shows were put on last weekend. I was luckily enough to be asked to do the set design and so with my trusty painters Henny, Bonnie, Helen, Miranda and Browyn (and a great Stage manager, Frouke, see below) we produced the following set:

The Castle and Hardup Hall

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The Woodland scene (with Hatsie as Prince Charming)

The Transformation scene with our mushrooms!

The kitchen scene with the fireplace I did last year for Santas visit!

The Ballroom with the two Ugly Sisters on the right (the one in the middle is Bill Dillon!!)

Jonny and Hannah's visit

We were delighted when we heard Jonny and Hannah were making a quick trip to Malaysia and Miri in November (like you do!) Cheap flights and some holidays to use up meant they were able to take a week off and join us. It IS the rainy season so it did rain a bit but, as they discovered, rain in Malaysia is a lot warmer than Scotland!

So grey skies for our trip around Miri but it was still 30 degrees so they didn't worry. Of course one of the stops had to be the view over Miri from the top of Canada Hill and our Grand Old lady - the drill rig that started it all in 1910

Another stop was to the biggest Taosist temple in SE Asia - built to re-balance the Feng Shui of the town when the river was re-routed!

They also spent 2 days in Mulu with the caves and the bats and then finally back to Miri for another couple of days R and R. First up the Miri River on a crocodile hunt. No definite sitings but Jonny was sure he saw a small one on a log, and Hannah and I both thoughwe saw larger ones in the water as we sped by.


And then a trip down to Luak Bay and some fresh coconut to drink

I even got some video of the guy cutting this exact coconut for these guys....

There was also a very warm sea to wade in...

..and a nice sunset at the Boat Club to boot.

Finally a short visit to St Andrews Night before they flew out to KL.

Thanks for coming guys!

James and Liz in Singapore

James and Liz had a very long trip planned to Australia so instead of adding more hassle to their already full itinerary we decided it was best if we met in Singapore instead of them coming to Miri. So 3 days and 3 nights in Singapore seemed pretty good to me! I went up early on the Air Asia flight on Friday 9th, checked in to the hotel and did a bit of exploring of the area before meeting them from the BA evening flight. It was so exciting to meet!

That evening we had a stroll around China Town, the Boat Quay area and the Merlion and had a good look around the Fullerton. The next morning we did a further explore of China Town and the river.

Day 1
Bronze statues in China Town and cats by the river

The Hindu Temple in China Town (!)

The Fish Market - watch the video of them scaling the fish

St Andrews Cathedral (Anglican, surprisingly enough)

At the top of the Stamford Tower with its great views over Singapore. I look forward to seeing the video, James!

Our hotel pool

Cocktails at Raffles of course

Day 2

Lunch at the Banana Leaf Apollo after a very hot walk around Little India

A trip to the Harbour Front and a very necessary look at the sea

Then a taxi to the Night Safari.

Day 3

My flight was at 12 so only time for a quick stroll around Boat Quay and then Bon Voyage for the next leg of their fabulous holiday. Our hotel is the one between the tree and the tall buildings!