Back from Borneo

Well I'm now back in the UK and have just worn heels for the first time in 4 months - my feet are in pieces. Got back to the flat to find that Ali had decorated it all in balloons and welcome home banners - I burst into tears (in a good way) when I saw it!

Had the most brilliant couple of weeks with Mark - we climbed Mount Kinabalu, hired a 4x4 and drove across the Crocker Range, camped on the beach at the tip of Borneo, dived with turtles, sharks and barracudas. It was all brilliant.

I'm about to leave to go and meet Mark at the airport - can't decide if I'm feeling sick with nerves or excitement (or from the pina coladas last night).

So I guess this is the end of this part of my adventure - it's been amazing, I'm not sure if it's changed me or if it'll change my life, but it's certainly been an incredible experience and I've learnt loads. I've seen the most beautiful things ever, and have met some lovely people. Though I've loved every minute of it, it really hasn't given me the travel bug it's just made me love home and everything I've got there even more. It's opened my eyes and I hope I'll appreciate how amazing my life is and how lucky I am a bit more now.

I really love Borneo and can't wait to come back. It's got so much - fantastic people of lots of different cultures, amazing beaches, gorgeous mountains, hot.... it's going to change loads over the next few years though. They've got really ambitious tourism plans, and Australian tourism has boomed here since the Bali bombings.

Can't believe how quickly time has flown. The last time I was home we were taking the Christmas tree down!

I don't feel I've rested since I got here so I'm now looking forward to a 2-week holiday and relaxing a bit. I'm also massively looking forward to coming home, to seeing everybody, to being in my flat, to the english summer (hopefully), to laughing with my pretty sisters, to not being boiling hot all the time, to telling George about my adventures, to walking by the river in Battersea Park, to going to a shopping mall without there being karaoke, to getting my feet muddy at Morston, to not eating rice, to seeing Mum cry when I see her, to hearing Dad's latest Norfolk stories, to not being used to practice english on....

Better dash to the airport.... ahhhh!!!!!

The last few days have been completely manic. We had our closing ceremony for the expedition on Monday night. At the very last minute Rory told me that I would be MC'ing the event. We had loads of press there, lots of government ministers, and all the staff and venturers so it was pretty daunting.

It's Malaysian etiquette that before you make a speech you have to read out all the names of the important people who are there. So, I had to read out loads of names including ones like: Tuan Haju Yanus Haji Suntim; Datuk Awang Haji Zainie Haji Matsin; Yang Berhormat Encik Mohammad Dahali Haji Pesuruhaya. It was a nightmare!

The next night we had the venturer party which was amazing. It was on the most beautiful beach, and we stayed in some really rustic wooden accomodation. Had a big bonfire and music on the beach.

Weds night was the first night after expedition, and the first night that the venturers have been allowed to drink for 10 weeks. Our night out in KK coincided with a US naval ship docking in town so it was absolute carnage. Quite a few people got drunken tattoos (thankfully I resisted).

Mark is about to take off from the UK and so will be here this time tomorrow - very exciting!

Happy birthday Mark!

Opening Ceremony 3

On Friday we had our final opening ceremony - of a library that we've built in a tiny community in the North of Sabah. It was sponsored by HSBC so we took a car full of banking types up there to cut the ribbon. HSBC are the main sponsors of the next expedition here so we need to keep them sweet.

It was pretty amazing to see all the kids in the village pulling the books off the shelves and starting to read them (most of them are illiterate).

Today is the last day of expedition, and all 96 venturers are due back in about an hour!! Can't believe it's over... we've now got 3 days of parties and tearful goodbyes.....

Had a day off yesterday so had a very lazy day in the sun, then went out for Italian with a couple of the girls and watched the sunset in this photo.

Have had lots of press coverage over the last few days. They literally just publish the exact wording of the press releases that I send through so it's pretty easy to get coverage. There's not much news out here. Some sample headlines from today are: 'Paint peeling off new concrete bridge'; 'Six vehicles damaged in separate mishaps'; 'Three held for breaking into bakery'; 'Woman's house broken into'; 'Man falls over'.

They're also allowed to show dead bodies so when there's a murder or fatality they show close ups of the injuries etc. which is really horrendous.

Have now signed off the expedition magazine, CD and t-shirt so things are a bit less hectic and I'm getting very excited about having a holiday in a week's time...

One of our venturers was sent back to the UK today as he was caught drinking - quite an achievement as he was in a Muslim community which is completely dry. He's an ex-heroin addict who apparently has a drink problem but it's a real shame that he didn't make it to the end of the expedition.

Had to write a speech today for the Minister of Youth and Sport in Sabah (he's one of our big sponsors) and was given 20 mins to turn it round.

Was running this evening and all of a sudden 2 massive dogs jumped over a gate and ran up to me and started barking and generally looking fairly angry. It was terrifying - I had thoughts of rabies and dog maulings flashing through my brain. I'm not the biggest dog fan at the best of times. I just stood still, turned my i-pod up and hoped that they'd go away. Which they finally did. It's put me off running around here though. Any excuse to be a bit lazy.