We’d checked out of our hotel around 4.30am and then took a taxi to the airport.  Our flight was at 7.10, so had to check in 2hrs before.  Thankfully the roads were quiet and we made good time.

Pushing our cases through the doors, we checked the board for our flight details and then looked at each other  …DOH!  ..we’d gone to the wrong airport.  So grabbed another taxi and took a 15min ride down the road.  Finally at the correct airport and luggage checked in, we boarded our AirAsia flight to Tawau only to notice that our seat no’s were on the opposite sides of the plane. No big drama as I think we both slept most of the flight.

Once at Tawau, we were greated by a ‘Seaventures’ rep and then boarded a minibus for a further 2hr drive across seas of palm oil plantations to Semporna.  We had the whole minibus to ourselves so space to spread out and snooze.  I just wish the roads would have been  a bit smoother, I felt like a tossed salad by the end of the journey ;-D
Once in Semporna, we clambered out of the minibus and then walked down the pier onto a little speedboat where we were given lovely orange life jackets to wear and jetted off across the water towards our final destination.  SeaVentures Oil rig, the only diving rig in the world.

You might think taking a mini break from diving to go diving is weird but it brings back wonderful memories and just wait for some of our footage to be posted.
Our first dives were just on Mabul and on the rig house reef but the amount of sea life we’ve seen so far is just amazing and to end the day, we took the boat to Mabul, Borneo Divers (where we honeymooned) to see how things had changed. 

A few more water villages have sprung us and more little touristy shops selling coral, shells, shark jaws which was shocking to see but not surprising…. they still have a lot to learn conservation wise…

But don’t blame the locals, blame the tourists that buy this stuff…. supply and demand…. 5am start tomorrow   ..Sipadan here we come!!!!!!!!

This post was supposed to be filled with excitement, and comments about our day being amazing…. Unfortunately, I type this post with sorrow in my heart….

We arrived in time for all of the races, but as ever, the main event was the MotoGP race.

The start of the race was clean (we watched on the video screen) and then the riders came around to our area of the track, where Marco Simoncelli lost control of his bike and fell off…. Sadly, Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi were unable to avoid a collision with the fallen bike and rider…. the impact of the bikes were so violent that it was impossible to imagine that Marco had survived.

From our position, I could see immediately that it was very serious… while other people laughed and joked, I saw the ambulance crew lift the broken body of Marco Simoncelli away from the track, only to fall over as they attempted to get him to the ambulance (bringing more laughter from the crowd).

The accident is one of the most horrendous moments I have had the displeasure of watching in motorsports history. I told Jen that the race would be cancelled because I had no doubt that he had died. It was cancelled, and Jen was very upset at witnessing such a tragic occurence. It also reminded me, that these guys push the limits every time they are on the track, and that this is a very dangerous sport… they earn every damm penny.

Marco Simoncelli was an amazing talent. A wild boy with Sideshow Bob style hair…. he was a champion in the 250cc class before he hit the MotoGP class.. Touted to be the next “Rossi” he had a crazy start to his season with some wild moves, but during the latter parts of the season, he came into his own, getting great times, and podium finishes and you could see the future in him.

He will be greatly missed..

RIP Marco Simoncelli (1984-2011)

Today, we woke early, and caught the monorail to the KL Sentral (the main station), where after searching for ages… we caught the “official” bus.

An hour later we were at the track, and we walked around checking the usual bike stuff out, trying to find where to get our caps and t-shirts that were in our ticket deals… It wasn’t easy… they wanted my passport AND credit card as proof of who I was… Lucky I had it!

Anyway, on to the qualifying. An exciting day, we popped from view to view, checking out the best bits of the track, and figuring out where we want to see on raceday.

The noise of a MotoGP bike is something astounding… it hurts! I cannot believe the sound that those bikes make… stunning… the video below does not do it justice….

We settled for the back straight, as besides seeing bikes do 300km per hour, you can also see about another 1/3 of the track… so a good vantage point… At one point I was watching Rossi come into a very tight corner, and bless him… he crashed… He was fine, but it has put him quite far down in position.

I was experimenting with HDR, a technique that involves taking the same photo with several different shutter speed settings and then merging them into photoshop… Such as, this photo below.. which is actually made up of 8 separate photos merged together… I would like to know what you think..?

After qualifying, we headed out of the circuit to catch the bus home… we had to wait 90 mins before one appeared, and then 90 mins to get back to the city centre….JOY!!

Then we decided to take a walk to a market… After miles of walking and being sent in the wrong direction by some “helpful” person, we found it…. TAT!! They sold the cheesiest crap… we left, and went home to bed, ready for raceday!

x

SD