Monkey business and yellow gumboots

You can’t go past Pangkor Island without stopping – that is once you have experienced the delight of dining in the sand at sunset with hornbills landing on the tables and monkeys watching from the trees. 

So it was that we stopped at Pangkor Island as we hurried north towards Langkawi. 

We even decided to stay an extra day which ended up being a slight disaster. 

Rather than leave the dinghy at the ferry jetty which we had done the night before, we decided to find a bit of beach to pull it up on. In the end we found a restaurant where we thought we might have a drink and ask if we could leave the dinghy for a couple of hours while we took a taxi ride to the other side of the island. 

The (Chinese) proprietor was very friendly but was regretfully unable to serve us a beer or anything alcoholic as he explained, his cafe was “opposite the Mosque”. His kitchen was closed but he was quite happy for us to leave the dinghy and he even offered to keep an eye on it while we were away. 

I was a little worried that the tide was still going out and that we might be left high and dry but happily went along with the Capt’n who didn’t seem worried by this. 
So we went back to our favourite beach eating place, Daddy’s Cafe. 

While we enjoyed our meal and a beautiful sunset we were entertained by a mischievous monkey who was eyeing off our meals as we ate. 

Suddenly the imp leapt off the nearby tree branch and in one swift movement jumped on and off the adjoining table, grabbed a piece of lemon from a glass and scampered back to the tree. 
The cheeky thing sat there triumphantly and ostentatiously sucking on his prize.  

He had a couple of attempts at more thieving but we waved our arms in the air and made loud growling noises and he eventually backed off. 
We had an early start the next day so soon after the sun had dipped below the horizon we caught a cab back to the place we had left the dinghy. It was exactly where we had left it but something was missing …..water!  The dinghy was sitting in lovely, yukky, gooey, mud. 

The Capt’n nobly waded in while I, and our passengers from Yantara, encouraged him from the sidelines. Suddenly a pair of bright yellow gum boots were presented to him and once he had struggled into them two fishermen similarly attired climbed down and hefted the dinghy to where there was enough water to launch it. 

The rest of us walked along walls and breakwaters until we found a place where we were able to climb down. 

We were so grateful for the help we received and will remain indebted to those very kind people who took the time to help us. 
At first light the next morning we headed off for Penang. An early start was necessary in order to get to our destination before dark. 

The morning was absolutely stunning with a mackerel sky and mist on the high ground on the mainland and on Pangkor Island. 

We had an excellent trip to Penang and motored under the first bridge at 4.30pm. 

Fortunately we were well settled in the Jerejak anchorage off the main island of Penang before the thunderstorm that we had been watching develop, began to shake, rattle and roll around us. 

It was awesome to watch as the lightening lit up the sky to reveal the many office and apartment tower blocks on Penang Island. By bedtime everything was calm again.