Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur, Day 1

Thursday, January 31, 2013 - Arrival Day

Twin Towers with Sky Walk dominates the skyline in Kuala Lumpur.

After a a false fire alarm in Brisbane, mandatory terminal evacuation, another round of security clearances, seven hour red eye flight, and an almost two hour taxi ride (extremely heavy traffic) on a beautiful well kept freeway, we arrived at our hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur at 10:00 am on Thursday.

We were very courteously provided an early check in so that we could drop our bags and tired bodies in our room.  We are on the seventeenth floor of the Renaissance Hotel and have a nice city view and hotel swimming pool. 

Despite our fatigue, once we were organized into our room, we hit the pavement and the hopon-hopoff bus for a tour of the city.  Our intent was primarily to familiarize ourselves to the city and to prioritize the many places we will want to explore a little more in depth.  We will only be here for four days.  We have made reservations to attend a dinner and cultural show this evening, trip to Melaka on Saturday, tour of Twin Towers on Sunday morning, and train trip to Batu Caves Sunday afternoon.

Wow, pretty much describes our first impression of this beautiful city.  The ethnic and cultural diversity is rich and vibrant.  Islam is the majority religion and government here.  In our hotel room, there is an arrow pointing east and prayer rooms in transportation stations to accommodate Islamic call to prayer.

This lovely woman at the crafts center wore a beautiful hijab.  Fashionable headwear abounds.

Chinese New Years is the celebration of the month.  The city is festooned with red lanterns.   Hi tech lampost bill boards with dynamic messages line the bustling streets where shopping, shopping, shopping is the primary activity.  The people and the economy seem to be bustling.

Crafts Center

Central Market 

It's time to get rolling, so I'll get this posted before we head off for days 2-4..

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's.

The Worst For Us Is Over...We Think!

Monday, January 28, 2013

SV Worrall Wind and Worrall Travel R's are Fine!

It has been a long 36+ hours.  The storm is finally winding down in Scarborough area in Australia.  The winds have subsided from 46 knots (our high - 85 km or 55miles/hr) down to 30's.  Almost seems calm.   Luckily there has been no damage to SV Worrall Wind.  This morning the sun broke out for a few minutes and everyone who had been hunkered down, crawled out of their boats, to survey the damage.  Most of the damage seemed to be with unfurled head sails flapping, slapping, and shredding.  Pictured below is a head sail that disintegrated in the middle of the night within five minutes, but not without a tremendous amount of noise.  

All is Well With the 2 Sail R's and Worrall Travel R's

Ex Cyclone Oswald Bearing Down On Us

Sunday, January 27, 2013 - Wet and Wild!

It is late Sunday morning, the day between Australia Day and the Monday Holiday.  Needless to say the wet and wild weather of ex cyclone Oswald has severely dampened this 3 day weekend for the Aussies and has us a bit tense as well.  The full force of what we can expect here is yet to come later today and evening.  We have already recorded gusts up to 40 knots.  Sustained winds are between 28-30 knots.  At least we are not in open waters where the waves are predicted between 20-30 feet.

Here are some of the forecasting maps for our area.

What's Next For the Worrall Travel R's?

Here is a little map of our upcoming Worrall Travel R Adventure to  Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, India, and Bhutan.  We will be leaving from Brisbane, Australia the end of January and returning to America in April.

Our conveyance will no longer be on our beloved Sailing Vessel Worrall Wind as she will be in the hands of proud new Australian owners. We will be leaving her in good hands and look forward to quicker moving adventures, so that we can check off the bucket list before we are too old or kick the bucket.  Too many barnacles were growing on Worrall Wind's bottom while we waited for the pirate situation in Somalia to be resolved.

The Worrall Travel R's will be jetting, trekking, training (railroad), junking, bussing, and no doubt be crawling on all fours by the end of this first trip of 2013 which is 60 days of go, go, go.  Follow the magenta line beginning in Sydney where we started the year in 2013.  Each of the primary destinations is yellow marker on our planned path.  The line changes to green as we retrace over some tracks on our way back to Bangkok and America.

Worrall Travel R's 2013 Itinerary for Jan-March         

View Worrall Travel Rs 2013 in a larger map

Australia Wrap Up

Our time in Australia is up on January 31, 2013.  We will be leaving Australia, many wonderful memories, new friends, old friends, our camper van A Waltzing Matilda and our beloved Sailing Vessel Worrall Wind with new owners.

A chapter in our cruising and exploration of South Pacific is coming to a conclusion.  However it is also the beginning of new dreams and adventures for the 2 Sail R's - Worrall Travel R's.

New Adventures Ahead

Our first destination when we leave via 747, is Kuala Lumpur in Indonesia, then we are off to South East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, Nepal, India, and Bhutan).  We are packing our backpacks, shipping stuff home, finalizing our visas, and getting ready to travel the rest of the world on other people's boats, planes, trains, buses, bikes, camels, and rickshaws.  We saw almost everything we wanted to here in Australia (we will have to come back to see Perth and Western Australia) so are now looking forward to exploring new territory and eastern cultures.

The next two weeks will be busy and hectic as we make preparations and say our goodbyes.

Here is a wrap-up of our time in Sydney, Melbourne, and back in Brisbane:

Christmas in Sydney

Three Story Christmas Tree in Queen Victoria Arcade

Sailing out of Sydney Harbour

Maggie Loaney and Russ

Captain Rod, Delivery Crew on Great Expectations

New Years in Sydney

Sydney Hobart Races

Wild Oats Leads to the Win

Sites of Sydney

Friends

Suwarrow Survivors - Yeah! Graciela and Oscar from SV Zenitude

Opera - Backstage and La Boheme

Russ, Katherine Wiles, Roz

Matilda Waltzes to Melbourne to New Owner

Roz, Ursula, Russ, Matilda

Visit with Ken and Lori from SV Trim

Survey, Sea Trial, and Time with Potential Worrall Wind Buyers.

Russ, Catherine, Grant, Mark, and Broker Rob

Mark, Russ, Catherine, Roz

 Sundowners with Friends

Russ and Katie, both Authors in January Issue of Blue Water Sailing.  Jim Thomsen of SV Tenaya

That's it for now.

All is Well With the 2 Sail R's on SV Worrall Wind