Our last two trips away have coincidentally involved ferries that have been replaced by bridges. On Tuesday, as we headed west towards the very end of Sarawak, we actually got to ride a still-existing ferry.

It might not be still existing for that much longer, as a bridge is in the making:


At the moment, though, you roll up, roll on, and roll off the other side. There was a light but steady stream of traffic, so we had to wait hardly any time at all.







Once on the far side (travelling from Kuching), you'll find a good source of fried banana (now an essential component of a Tern road trip):


And then you're off again.

Given Sarawak's astonishing wateriness -- with a topography full of serpentine rivers and tentacular deltas -- it's not surprising that a lot of effort is currently going into improving infrastructure. We loved the characterful little ferry, but I've read accounts by people who are delighted when a new bridge is built, and absolutely don't miss queuing miles back along the road at peak times to get on board the boat.

In addition to the major bridge-building undertakings, an upgrading of the smaller bridges is also currently underway. At frequent intervals along our route, numerous temporary structures take the load while new ones are worked on. (It seems to be a Sarawak thing to work on everything at once, rather than finish one section before starting the next. The Pan Borneo Highway seems to work on the same principle. I'm sure there's a reason, but I don't know what it is.)



We stayed two nights at the Sematan Palm Beach Resort, which we would definitely recommend.



The beach is gorgeous:











The birdlife by the sea is also rewarding:





Heading west from our lodgings, you get to Telok Melano. This little place has several claims to fame.

Firstly, it's the point from which you get boats to Tanjong Datu National Park, but this is something we'll do in the dry season (I hear myself saying those words a lot at the moment).

Secondly, it's Kilometre 0 of our old favourite, the Pan Borneo Highway:



Thirdly, it's just a stone's throw from Indonesia, which always makes us nostalgic... Given the border closures, this is the end of our world at the moment. We can go no further...



And fourthly, it has a really lovely beach, definitely a destination in its own right:







Just down the coast is another beautiful beach, Pantai Pueh:





This trip proved to me once and for all that beaches are absolute works of art.

Notable artists are the tiny-ball crabs. As they clear their little homes out every day, they -- totally unconsciously, of course -- create amazing designs:




Then you have abstract art from the snails:



And there's the sea's own artwork, wiped out and recreated every single tide:




You can never be bored on a beach...

Anyway, there was a lot more to our trip than rivers and beaches, but you'll find that in the next post.