The main reason to get to Tawau was to catch the plane back to KL, so we didn’t have to backtrack. There’s not a lot to do there!

Well, we waited over an hour for the mini bus to get enough people to make the journey worthwhile, and once it had ten people we were off at break-neck speed, overtaking anything in the van’s way!

The driver dropped us at our hotel, which was a bonus and after settling in we wandered about until we found somewhere to eat. Sizzling hot plates of chicken and beef arrived. I’d asked for extra veges, so lettuce and cucumber as a side dish! Haha.

Too hot to walk about, so we spent a couple of hours reading and relaxing in the aircon. Our room had a good view of the sea, a fairly busy port and large container terminal.

It took us a while the following day to find the path winding along the seafront. There is a large ferry terminal with the main connection being to Nunaken Island in Kalimantan. The waterfront was littered with plastic bottles. They really are a problem. The day someone invents a material that disintegrates will be a major breakthrough! I thought perhaps the Malaysian authorities might have been a bit more proactive, but I think the problem is just too big!

So after wandering around for a while and stopping for a mango smoothie and some fake crocs ($7) we headed back to the hotel. That was excitement enough for us.

We’ve had an early start with a flight from Tawau to KL. Now just hanging around at the massive airport waiting for our 8pm flight to Sydney. I am very pleased with the fact that we managed on our own again, in a part of Malaysia that is slowly developing its tourist industry. I must remember to download the language app next time…it was hard work finding different things to eat, besides nasi goreng and noodles on menus that didn’t have much English! My problem! Easily solved!