Monday 12 July 2010

Magical Kapas






I don't think I have a vocabulary wide enough to do justice to what we experienced on Pulau Kapas. On my Facebook page I wrote  our evening walk along the beach was "magical", and Muni wrote "Masyallah" expressing amazement at the sheer beauty of the lagoon we had trekked to.








 In fact it was both magical AND amazing.

Errr... If you're looking for me in that pool...    no, this aunty did not dive into it's pristine emerald waters, not because she did not want to, but she was afraid she might awaken fossilised dinosaurs lying beneath with her ungraceful landing. The rock formation is believed to be about 200 million years old, mind you. So aunty had opted to snooze under a very shady ledge instead where she too could have been easily mistaken for one of the fossilised dinosaurs by anyone passing.

Yes, it felt truly magical for me when we hopped on board "East Coast Blue Water", Captain's boat. He had written so much about her and had promised us all a ride many times (jokingly, we thought) that somehow I couldn't believe that it has come true - but only half-true because of the absence of half my family. That means I can claim another ride with the other half, Captain?

First up, a quick tour round the island, where we could see that the beaches are on the mainland-facing side and on the other side are mainly sheer cliffs of strataed rock that drop right into the sea with beautiful spots for snorkelling and scuba-diving, or just plain diving and swimming like what the kiddoes did.

Turtles do come to lay their eggs on Kapas as well. Because turtles are an endangered species, the eggs  are collected by the relevant authorities situated on Gemia Island (see map below) who later release the hatched baby turtles back to the sea.

As we set foot on the beach fronting Captain's Longhouse, we were greeted by Captain's old friend from his army days, Mahathir and his sons. A very friendly bunch they are, there to assist Captain with the operations for the day. We were going to have a BBQ dinner at the gazebo on the beach but before that some keropok and hot refreshing tea.

a "Yoko Ono" moment (me)

Bar in the background 
with our ginger tea on the counter

OK I had informed Captain that I was not expecting to cook my own dinner but Muni and I offered to help with the keropok anyways (pssst... plus the tea wasn't going to remain steamy for long)

haaaiii... mana boleh lari dari dapor cik kak

A 3 km walk on the beach with Captain and Jane followed.

Errr... who is Jane?


(Tell you later)




I fished this map off google, it's not current but it basically shows the kind of activities you can do while on Kapas. Captain's place is No. 2 - re-named "Captain's Longhouse". We walked from No. 2 to the other end of the island, and there are walkways built above the rockier parts making it altogether a very pleasant walk indeed.

Along the way Captain introduced  us to a few of the facilities owners who happened to be outside their premises. They seem to have a great community going there, supporting one another. I do not recognise some of the names of the lodgings listed there on the map however that boat service is still in operations.

But check out these spots we came across on the walk:



This place becomes a magnificient waterfall (says Captain)
in the monsoon season - November to March


Be wary of the creatures take shelter in this cave
We were greeted by a couple of Count Dracula's relatives
- just the insignificant ones 



This is one of numerous oysters that live on the sea rocks.
Captain chipped open one to reveal the flesh,
scooped it out and popped it into his mouth



We each had one as well. 

It was the most exquisite-tasting oyster I've ever had the pleasure of savouring, and I've had my share of them in my lifetime. It was fresh, lemak and manis, out-of-this-world (but on Kapas) - I kept it in my mouth for the longest time possible before reluctantly handing it over to my digestive juices. 

Totally heaven...

 
After the walk, we all freshened up for our maghrib prayers - it was re-assuring to hear Captain's other guests doing theirs in congregation - and then the wonderful BBQ dinner at the gazebo, Mahathir's specially-brewed teh tarik, good conversation....
 Budding sea-farer about to 
wolf down a BBQ'd lamb
 













And I wished the other part of me wasn't half a world away.....












(the next one should be the final instalment)

13 comments:

rohaizahabas said...

u duduk di mana ...chalet ke hotel 5 star...boleh tunjuk gambar tak....
kena banyak jalan kaki ya..er er...tak pa boleh bawak lotion pati halia tu..hahahha..Cantik sangat alam di sebelah sana ya,,,,terpesona I...

Zendra-Maria said...

Kami tidor beratapkan beribu bintang Ezza hehehe...

Kami tinggal menumpang kat rumah panjang kapten lerr... tidor di kamar paling depan diatas katil bertilam empok, dibawah kelambu - sesuatu yang tak pernah dirasai oleh anak dara saya (kelambu tu lah)

Indah memang indah - bagi kita yang dibesarkan di bandar, amat nyaman

Tak mahu jalan boleh berenang ;)

Zendra-Maria said...

kelambu punya dalam lah, bukan bawah :)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Zendra,
Kita suka itu oyster! yummmm.... My Mama said maybe we'll go visit that waterfall (while trying not to wake Jane up). har har har *evil laughs*

Siti Roffini said...

Zendra,
Wish I were in Pulau Kapas this very instant. Captivated by the scenic beauty of the island plus those mouth watering oysters!! Is Jane as friendly as the owner? Heard so much about her from the Capt.

Naz in Norway said...

Beautiful place. What's the visibility like around the island? Is there a dive center there?
Ini lah yang macam melambai lambai suruh I balik ni.....

kay_leeda said...

Okay...Kapas is on my list now. Wahh...do I see someone treading water out there in the dark green waters?? No wonder lah oysters tu dia sedut je...heh heh :)

Zendra-Maria said...

Cats, I saw Jane send a biawak to animal heaven so Mama better put you in a cage when she comes. The waterfall happens during the monsoon it seems, I too would like to see it, but the sea is really choppy then I think.

Zendra-Maria said...

Jane is really very sweet Siti R, though I pity her; she's kind of marooned on the island, no "friends" unless Capt has fixed her - know what I mean *winks*

Hey don't just wish, call up Capt and make the arrangements - maybe Firefly operates from Alor Setar too. Yes, the oysters were simply indescribable!

Zendra-Maria said...

Naz, there is a dive centre on the island, in fact Capt introduced us to the family who runs the place. Pasal visibility under-water, let Capt tell you lah, I'm not a diver.... yet hahaha

Zendra-Maria said...

Kay, itu anak aunty, bukan aunty lah. Dia memang gila sea-food - semalam habis satu mangkuk ketam all by herself, not to mention kerang bakar lagi at a BBQ we went last night.

Kapas is so close to mainland - just 10-15 min by speedboat yet can get to do all the seasports other islands offer.

(I should be in tourism)

Anonymous said...

Zendra,

,,,hihihi you indeed doing a fine job at it ! eerrmm more pictures pls hahhhaha kat tangga tu o.k. o.k lah ada logo lagi. m'cam ? buat mereka terlior Yeop oii !!.
,,,malam ini semua Frenchy except for 1 x American lady dok buat yoga depan rumah kena balun nyamok tadi..minyak gamat to the rescue-lah..eerrmm laku juga jual minyak.
,,,Jeremy is learning pretty fast since Baharom is away again to JB. ,,,Azeim pun ada details to collect kat musium KT tentang malay historical boats b4 dia datang kapas this weekend. He too is picking up in quick time from the way things are progressing plus tuan dr. Hj Dollah is showing him the works too. In fact, dr Zaini too will show him around his boat workshop at Port Klang when Azeim is back in KL later. Pak Lanun Awi is holding him captive at yellowhouse hihihi..dapat bicycle dari dia and Azeim is now mobile on duyong. Indeed, having a jolly great time there !.
...meself mogok hari ini dari kitchen...tak nak layan Frenchy punya kehenah, let them find their food elsewhere on the island.

Zendra-Maria said...

Capt, thanks for the heads up on Azeim. Great opportunity you've given him Tok, hope he doesn't throw it all away. I couriered him a broadband modem so he may be able to "research" plus whatever kids do on the net haha

OK I'll put that tangga pic up though you look more like grandpa than macho there LOL!!!