Old Friends, New Places

The beach at Manana

      Not that I am suggesting for one moment that either Christine or Valerie are old, in fact many years younger than me, but Christine and I have been friends for many years. My youngest daughter, Gen and her eldest son Marc were in the “petite section” of the maternelle together and became great friends at two and a half years old. One day I received an invitation from Marc’s mother inviting Gen to spend the afternoon at their house and the rest is history. Seventeen years later, with nine children between us, full-time jobs and busy lives we have kept firm friends and Christine was one of the first to know about my decision to accept the job in Borneo. “ Je viendrai te voir” she said but I never really imagined that she would. Christine and her sister have never travelled outside of Europe before and there were passports, vaccinations and the organisation of leaving three children and husband behind to contend with.

Christine recovering from jet-lag!

   So there I was on Friday evening waiting for all the passengers to come out of the arrival gates. I waited and waited and saw some lovely reunions between families and friends but no Christine, Valerie or Marc. Had I got the wrong terminal perhaps? Had they decided not to come after all? Eventually with much relief I saw the familiar face of Marc who came to tell me that I was needed. Valerie’s suitcase had been badly damaged during the flight and there was very little left of it! So our reunion took place in the baggage claim office where we eventually extracted enough money to buy a new suitcase and a bin bag with all her belongings in.

Our chalet

   We stayed the night in a backpackers in KK and then in the morning set off to Manana, one of my favourite places to go. I feel like I am in the TV series "Fantasy Island" when I get in the rubber dinghy with the same boatman and I'm sure everyone feels more relaxed when they leave this idyllic spot. They loved it and we had a nice relaxing weekend along with a very sociable Saturday night with an international group of Europeans from France, Germany, Denmark, Holland and U.K.

Christine, Marc and Valerie near Mount Kinabalu

 We made our way back to Ranau on Sunday afternoon and Mount Kinabalu was very kind and showed herself to them. Yesterday in between me working we went to the Sabah Tea Garden for lunch and visited the market in Ranau. It is interesting seeing Ranau through their eyes as I am so used to it now. I think they are shocked by the huge amount of plastic used and thrown on the street but on a positive note amazed at how safe they feel and how friendly the people are. A few hours ago they left on the bus for the next stage of their journey in the jungle. They will be back soon - hopefully!