Pangkor Island and Ocean Cruising 52

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issue 52

triumph and tears as america’s cup concludes

special feature

the eco-friendly alternatives to teak

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the yachting life of jewellery king john calleija

destination

unlocking the secrets of pangkor Island

technical

the how and the why of motor yacht propulsion

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T

Hidden Treasure So secret is Pangkor, Malaysia’s

authentic island getaway, Roderick Eime

had to brave a bush track and a gaggle of native birds to uncover its wonders.

he tiny Malaysian island of Pangkor hides a bounty of historical and natural charms. Some the visitor must find, the rest finds you.

No sooner is dinner served, than the fracas begins. Diners swarm around the untidy mix of fruit scraps and stale bread like it’s their last meal. Squabbles erupt, there’s lots of aggressive posturing and even some physical exchanges, but while these ill-mannered guests behave like they own the place, it’s quite possible they actually do.

Here on the beachfront resort, majestic hornbills from the nearby jungle reserve swarm in for their evening feed, jostling with tiny sparrows, peacocks and starlings for the food laid out for them. Highly intelligent and gregarious, these native birds with their bizarre oversized beaks flick the little chunks into the air before catching them and swallowing them whole.

Some of the resort’s card-carrying guests join in - hand-feeding some of the tamer animals while others toss bits in the air for the less social birds to expertly snatch.

Pangkor Island is a small, eightsquare-kilometre tropical island, three hours by road north from Kuala Lumpur, separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. Accessible by a 40-minute ferry ride from the old marina at Lumut, the island’s visitors make their way across to the island to stay at one of the resorts or budget lodgings popular with both locals and international visitors.

There is also an air link from Kuala Lumpur with regional airline, Berjaya Air, three times a week on a 48-seat turboprop.

The population of approximately 12,000 inhabitants is roughly 40 per cent each Chinese and Malay, with the balance Indian and others. Traditionally it has been a site for migrants from the Chinese province of Hainan who have set up enterprises in the villages like Sungai Pinang. One is the delightful Fock Kee Restaurant set up by Mr Goh’s parents where you can dine on local delicacies such as prawn, squid, crab and noodles.

My special dish is assam spiced fish, he says proudly. It’s a whole fish steamed in spicy sauce garnished with local vegetables and a perfect centrepiece to a banquet that might cost just RM30 ($10) per head.

Beyond Pangkor itself is the smaller still satellite island of Pangkor Laut, the site of the plush YTL over-water resort and a former guerrilla base during WWII, where Colonel Freddie Spencer Chapman made his escape after years in the jungle, alongside the ethnic Chinese resistance fighting both disease and the occupying Japanese.

Historically, the island has sustained a local fishing industry and has also offered refuge to pirates preying on the merchant vessels plying the Straits of Malacca.

PARADISE FOUND Left: The infinity pool at the Royal Bay Beach Club is a special attraction on Pangkor. Above: The YTL-owned over-water resort on Pangkor Laut.

The Dutch built a small fort on the island in the late 17th century to protect their tin trade, but their relationship with the local Sultans was uneasy and by the mid-18th century, the fort was abandoned. Today it forms one of the numerous attractions on the island along with temples, traditional villages and natural sites, typified by the sandy beaches and dense jungle where clearing is tightly controlled.

From our base at the 258-room Pangkor Island Beach Resort, located on a 1200-metre strip of sand and surrounded by dense virgin jungle, we have the choice of hanging around the pool and enjoying the watersports and activities or venturing out to explore the island and its attractions. A short jungle hike is offered to the nearby Hornbill Bay, a distance of perhaps one kilometre return. oceanmagazine.com.au

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Arriving by private yacht?

Marina facilities are available to private cruisers at Lumut International Yacht Club, a 40-berth full-service marina with repair facilities, or Pangkor Marina, Lumut, which has berths for 70 yachts from 10 to 20 metres, plus hard stand, fuel (cash only), DIY workshops, chandlery, ramp, 45-tonne sealift, amenities, restaurant and 24hour security. marinaisland.com

While this may not be the Great Barrier Reef, it’s fun to feed the reef fish at one of the designated spots and check out the scenery and secluded bays from an on-water perspective.

The little fishing ports and traditional boatbuilding yards dot the shore along with the many swimming beaches and it’s easy to imagine this secret island as a perfect haven for local buccaneers and resistance fighters.

Somewhere nearby, the British submarines would surface in the dead of a moonless night to resupply guerrillas who would then melt back into island’s all-consuming undergrowth.

Today, the island of Pangkor embraces all, offering sanctuary and relaxation with a sprinkle of adventure for visitors of all means and affiliations. All deck chair loafers and closet Jungle Jims welcome.

Malaysia Airlines flies 47 times per week from Australia to Kuala Lumpur with regular domestic connections. www.malaysiaairlines.com

ISLAND HOME Pangkor Laut sits southwest of the larger Pangkor Island off the northwest peninsular of Malaysia. Below: Immaculate gardens and interesting architecture are also features of Pangkor Laut.

‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’ The jungle itself is neutral.

F re ddie spence r chapman

The path is barely discernible and our guide, Faizal, lashes out with his machete at the fronds, creepers and vines that have obscured the trail since his last trek.

“Watch out for this leaf,” he warns, “it has many sharp spikes.” He gestures to a broad fern with nasty stickles that would clearly cling like the devil to anything it touched. As the brave Colonel Chapman once observed, the jungle is neutral treating all within its realm with the same ambivalence. Nevertheless, I’m wondering if the scimitar-like pandanus leaves, the brooding spiders spinning webs, the snakes, leeches and fat ants will show me this happy indifference.

As our little group strolls back up the beach after the Hornbill Bay expedition, several cheeky macaques are making a picnic out of cracker biscuits and crisps left on lounges by careless beachgoers.

Even if you dare not venture into the jungle, it may well come to you.

If the idea of a jungle trek does not appeal, it’s possible to arrange one of the local speedboats for a coastal excursion and snorkelling. oceanmagazine.com.au

SEA LIFE Private on-water chalets with balconies make the perfect base for the discerning traveller on Pangkor Laut.

Above: The stunning great hornbill is just one of many exotic birds to be found on both islands.

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Pangkor LauT Premium Jungle Luxury Pangkor Laut is a privately owned island located five kilometres off the west coast of Malaysia along the Straits of Malacca.

This paradise-like haven, two million years in the making, is home to one of the world’s premier spa resorts hidden in the shade of forest giants as old as the land.

Secluded bays curled around pristine beaches, colourful evening skies and an overwhelming sense of serenity are reserved exclusively for pampered guests.

Only a fraction of the island’s 300 acres are developed for the resort and its eight estates. Wooden buildings blend harmoniously with the forest in a natural architectural style. Walls curve around foliage and roofs open up to allow trees to grow through to the sky.

The resort features a private jetty suitable for tendering or a helipad. www.pangkorlautresort.com

BAY OF HISTORY Colonel Freddy Spencer Chapman DSO, was one of the first Europeans to arrive on Pangkor Laut when he arrived for 36 hours in May 1945. After spending three and a half years hiding from the Japanese in the jungles of Malaya, Chapman made his way to Pangkor Laut’s Emerald Bay (above) to escape by submarine.

Despite the short visit, the beauty and tranquility of the resort left a great impression on him and his time on the island is detailed in his book The Jungle is Neutral. Right: Some of the world’s most magnifcent spa resorts lie on the privatelyowned Pangkor Laut, blending harmoniously with the landscape.

oceanmagazine.com.au

CARTER MARINE AGENCIES CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA

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Just about every travel company with any vague expeditionary theme has taken up the quote by inveterate traveller and literary titan, Mark Twain, to the point of cliché. For the record, here it is: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

In August I had the great fortune to travel with the company set up by the late Bill Peach. His namesake company, Bill Peach Journeys, began in 1983 with small private group tours around

Taking flight If you’re under the impression that the only way to conduct an expedition is aboard a ship, it’s time to think again, writes Roderick Eime.

French first Leading French cruise line and five-star expedition specialist Compagnie Du Ponant has just completed a first in the French maritime world with a crossing of the Northwest Passage from Greenland to Siberia on Le Soléal, a luxury yacht flying the French flag. For the 215 passengers onboard the latest generation of ship specifically designed for polar cruises, it was an unforgettable and moving experience with many exceptional encounters along the way. http://Traveltheworld.com.au

Silver liners Silversea Expeditions plans to dominate the expedition cruising market with the announcement of a third vessel to join Silver Explorer and Silver Galapagos in 2014.

The former Clipper Odyssey, built in 1989 and already well known to regular expeditioners, will be transformed with an extensive refit to make her ready for Silversea’s discerning repeat cruisers who are embracing the small ship experience in droves.

The new vessel will kick off itineraries in March 2014 which focus exclusively on the Pacific.

O

www.silversea.com

Roderick Eime

ver the centuries, expeditions have taken place aboard everything from camels to hot air balloons, and from everywhere from the South Pole to the moon. The great Marco Polo crossed the vast continent of Asia by camel train, while the fictitious adventurer, Phileas Fogg, used just about everything from trains, sledges, ships and even that hot air balloon. Of course, had Fogg had access to today’s modern machinery (and was a real person), he could have done it in less than 80 hours, instead of 80 days.

But speed is not the essence of adventure. An expedition involves exploration, study, observation and documentation. Interaction with locals, both human and animal, is mandatory in my view, as is the need to acquaint oneself with the geology, geography and ethnology of the lands visited. Why else would one travel if it were not to discover?

Why would you go to Mauritius, say, to sit on a beach when there are perfectly good beaches within a stone’s throw or less from most Australian capital cities?

Australia. Not by rickety coach, 4WD or even train, but by private aircraft. To achieve this, Bill acquired a trusty Fokker F27 Friendship. In fact the aircraft was the very first production F27 built in 1958 and delivered new to Aer Lingus. It now resides in a museum in Holland, still in flying condition and repainted in KLM period livery.

Bill’s later mainstay was a de Havilland Dash-8, a visually similar aircraft, but with all the mod cons. His 1984-built aircraft served the company from 2005 until just last year (2012).

As for me, I was spoiled rotten with the newest aircraft in the fleet, a superb Embraer 135 T-tail twinjet. This ‘rock star’ plane seems pretty far removed from ‘expedition material’, but nonetheless it took 30 of us around Australia in a mere 12 days. The route from Sydney headed to Longreach, then to the RAAF base at Katherine where we diverted for two days by coach and flew out of Kakadu in two Beech 1900Ds, resuming our jet journey

in Darwin. Then to Kununurra, Broome, Yulara, Alice Springs and Birdsville (for lunch) before arriving back at Mascot.

Now this might sound like a whirlwind adventure, and in many respects it was, but we ticked off each location’s iconic experience in ‘bucket list’ fashion with no more than three hours in the air at any one time. We had our own gorgeous cabin attendant, Miho, a Japanese-born Australian who had spent much of her airtime with Thai Airways. When she wasn’t handing out sweets and checking our tray tables were stowed, she joined in the festivities just like a proper guest.

We set out to achieve a series of objectives, which we did in efficient comfort. Crocodiles in Kakadu, history in Longreach, speedboats on the Ord, pearls in Broome, a bit of Dreamtime in Katherine, Kakadu and Uluru as well as lunch in Birdsville, possibly the most remote and iconic pub in the country.

Yep, I’d call that an expedition. www.billpeachjourneys.com.au

A new Passage

Jewels of australia Anti-clockwise from above: The iconic sight of Uluru, from an Embraer 135 T-tail twinjet; Disembarking with the rest of the Bill Peach Journeys expedition passengers; Kata Tjuta (aka The Olgas), in the UluruKata Tjuta National Park; The Azure Kingfisher, found in northern and eastern Australia and Tasmania.

Following an extensive refit and makeover, Island Escape Cruises is poised to introduce its luxury small ship Island Passage on its inaugural series of Fiordland Cruises in early December.

Suites and staterooms will be refurbished with new carpet, textiles, furniture and luxury bed linens, plus a cruise director will now join the sailing. www.islandescapecruises.com

Roderick Eime covers the small ship and adventure cruise scene for numerous magazines and newspapers and is the editor of www.adventurecruiseguide.com

adventurecruiseguide.com