Day 1 :)

Tioman here we come!  Who could believe that after all the months of planning and preparation it was time to go on the trip.  8 of us flew on the 0800 Berjaya Air flight and the the remaining 23 on the 1120 flight.

The flight flew us over Malaysia, showing us lots of the national geography.  What a sight, as we banked over Tioman and had our first glimpse of the lush volcanic island, surrounded by palm fringed beaches.  We landed at the tiny Tioman airport and were met by our EcoField Trip staff; Tara, Yana & Pete.

As soon as we collected our bags we were ready for our transfer to the Melina Beach Resort.  We went to the jetty for our boat transfer, put our life jackets on and were ready to go!

The boat landed and we strode onto Melina beach.  Well, some of us jumped, stepped or fell onto the beach!!!  It was hot and humid and we were all sweating even though we hadn't done anything yet!  Obviously we did the most important things first - we were all starving so headed straight for the buffet lunch.

Both groups were re-united and we listened to the EFT (EcoFieldTrips) instructors tell us about the expectations, groups and info about the resort. When we finished we had some free time and moved our suitcases into our rooms.

Once we'd settled in we had our snorkelling introduction.  We were told to get a 'buddy', had a briefing on what to do, and off we went to explore the reef right outside the resort.  It was really cool, we saw lots of fish and coral, swam for some time and returned. It was very interesting and fun.

After our snorkel we dried off, got changed and went for an introductory walk through the rainforest.  We saw different types of rainforest plants that can be used for medicine, explored a disused coconut plantation and were introduced to some of the local wildlife :)  Although it was only a small walk we came back sweaty and wet!

To finish the day we had 3 hours of free time.  We showered, talked, and basically had fun together.  Some of us even went for another swim!

At 7pm we ate dinner which was very good and waited for the presentation on rain forests and mangroves.  The presentation gave us an introduction to our learning tomorrow, the key ideas and what we would need to take.  Finally we all chatted and hung out until our curfew. Overall it was an amazing day.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Simran, Hasmah, Lisa, Jasmin and Mia Sarah