Malaysia Delayed

Dear Tigger fans,

We apologise for the break in service. Due to unforseen circumstances TiggerTours has been deemed subversive, and cannot be updated from our current location.

But (thanks to the power of the internet) Rich has simply emailed the photos and words to his lovely sister Jen, who has kindly performed the update for us!

We last left you before our short stay in Brunei, close to the stunning Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque.

Then a short hop back to Peninsular Malaysia, to patiently await our guests for two weeks in Malaysia.

Introducing the extended Team Tiger, sporting numerous Visit Malaysia items - [left to right] Neen, Janette (Neen's mum), Tigger Williams, Rich, Poppy (Neen's sister), and of course Tigger Lee.

We took in a little sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur, including the Petronas Towers...

...and a beautiful butterfly garden...

...naturally mingled with an appropriate amount of shopping, in South-East Asia's largest mall.

Then, abandoning all comfort, we launched ourselves head-first into the jungle of Taman Negara.

A long riverboat ride through thick rainforest with monkeys and otters (and possibly a croc?) watching us from the sides.

Bravely we shuffled across the Canopy Walkway, a rickety system of planks and ropes suspended 120 feet above the jungle floor...

...whilst back in our huts, an army of giant ants carried away all of our precious snacks.

From there we travelled over rail, road and sea to the clear waters and white beaches of Pulau Perhentian Besar (translation - island which is big and a good place to stop).

And during our snorkelling excursions, we found Nemo.

Back on the mainland we took in a cultural performance in Kota Bharu, with coconut drummers pounding out mesmerising rhythms...

...and Rich making a total fool of himself in a traditional dance display.

With our guests heading back to rainy Wales, we spent our last week in Malaysia in the city of Melaka, where the pristine preservation of the colonial buildings contrasts with the crumbling shophouses of Chinatown.


And Tigger made good friends with Carl, our bicycle-rickshaw driver and guide.

That about wraps it up for our time in Malaysia, but (pending internet restrictions) we will update from China as often as we can.

Loads of love,
Team Tiger.
x

MonkeyMania!

Dear all,

Our time in New Zealand has come to an end, and we bid farewell to our feathered friends down under.

We finally managed to get a snap of the endangered hihi (only 1000 left), a nectar-eating bird which Janine has been mostly taking care of for the last three months...

...and a dinosaur-like weka stalking our shoelaces.

So with one giant leap (and about 32 hours of travelling), we land in the hot and humid Malaysian Borneo.

Stilt-villages on the banks of rivers and colourful streets aplenty in Kuching...

...and a beautiful painted wooden naga (dragon) in the impressive Sarawak Museum.

We thought we should also share with you the view from our dinner table last Sunday.

We took an exhausting day-trip to the Bako National Park, where mangroves fringe the peninsula.

A steep climb through the rainforest brought back distant memories for one team member.

And at the highest point in the park we dragged ourselves along in the sweltering kerangas (a unique ecosystem on limestone soil)...

..but our efforts were rewarded with a stunning beach to ourselves...

...alongside a rocky forested inlet.

As suggested by the name of this update, Borneo has proved to be rather monkeytastic.

The mischievous macaques around the park tried to steal Rich's hat when he wasn't looking.

But some primates where a little more shy, such as this silver leaf monkey (langur) skulking away through the mangrove pneumatophores...


...and the rare proboscis monkeys, which watched us from the tops of the trees.

Although we were thankful that some of the animals kept their distance, like this pit-viper.

Further south in the region we had an excellent orang-u-tan viewing, with the apes swinging through the trees to catch fruit...

...pausing only to throw the occasional coconut at passers-by.

That's it for our first update back on the road, but we hope to thrill you with more photos soon from Brunei and Peninsular Malaysia.

Love,
Team Tiger.

xx

Volcano-based fun

Hiiiiii,

It's been a quiet month here in Wellington, mostly spent working hard and trying to save up some cash. Still, we did manage to get away for one weekend, and we have a few photos to share with you. Oddly none of them involving tigers...

Here's the view from our tiny flat, of a moonrise over Mount Victoria.

And this seabird was spotted posing on a sculpture by the city waterfront...

We spent a weekend in the Tongariro National Park in the middle of the North Island, near to the spectacular Mount Ruapehu (good for skiing apparently).

And on the Saturday we took a 17 km hike over the top of the active volcano Tongairiro. Climbing to nearly 2000 metres we had great views of nearby Ngauruhoe, which starred as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies...

The Tongariro walk is recognised as the best one-day walk in New Zealand, and is sprinkled liberally with reminders of its volcanic nature such as these red cliffs...

...and emerald pools with nearby steaming vents.

However, there were some peaceful and non-scary parts of the walk...

...with the descent gifting us views which stretched for miles and miles...

...and taking us past a very picturesque waterfall in dense bush.

Back in Wellington, Griff has been volunteering her time at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. Her duties include monitoring the feeding stations for endangered birds such as this Kaka:


Although thankfully she doesn't have to get too close to these huge Cave Weta, which properly freaked out Rich in an abandoned gold mine at the sanctuary.

And, job done and bucket in hand, she starts the long walk back to the bus stop.

Also, here's a really big carrot.

That's all for now, but we'll post more in the coming weeks!

Love
Rich, Neen, Tigs, M. Lapin & Justin
xx