The Holiday of a Lifetime

…but the amazing treat of a  luxury cruise ‘exploring’ off the northern coast of Borneo for our daughter Ruth! When she rang us only a few days ago to say that she was off, thanks to the kindness of one of her very great friends who had invited her to accompany her on this exciting trip, we were overcome with excitement for them both.

With very little time for lengthy shopping expeditions for suitable kit for the luxury side of things or indeed the marine and wildlife exploring, snorkelling and scuba diving side of things either, off they flew on Tuesday, as everyone in this country was reeling with shock and horror at the dreadful news of the the riots and destruction of the previous few days.

Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu… it sounds more poetic than their two changes of aircraft undoubtedly proved to be, before they reached Kota Kinabalu where hopefully the Orion 11 lay waiting in the harbour, having only hours previously disgorged the previous cruise passengers. Apparently the air-conditioning had gone wrong on this previous trip but one hopes they managed to get this fixed before setting off again.

We have heard nothing since they left. Ruthie had warned us that communications from her would be minimal as apparently even text messages are extremely expensive to send, so we are left in the tantalising silence just trying to imagine what amazing experiences she and her friend might be having.

Their home for ten days is the Orion11, recently purchased and refitted by the Orion Expedition Cruises who arrange expeditions to a ‘wide range of rarely visited destinations; all enjoyed in a casual ambience, with 5 star facilities and attentive service on board‘. No doubt there will be suitable translations for some of the items on the dinner menus – I spotted ‘steamed yabbies’ amongst other intriguing delicacies, and grilled ‘mahi mah’.

Their destination, Borneo, is the third largest Island in the world, home to the world’s oldest tropical rainforests and described as a ‘zoological paradise’; I am told the snorkelling and scuba diving in the Coral Triangle off the north Borneo coast is pretty amazing, too.