I was musing, the other day, about this blog and its content, and where it would be heading.

I was determined, after all last year's trampling on the spot, and gazing inwards, to include only the new and different.

No old stuff -- much as we do it, much as we enjoy doing it (because some things, while not new, never really get old, right?)

But no more rehashing of old stuff in the blog. That's the resolution.

New. And/or different. Only.

Well, today, we did a walk on the northern bank of the river. It's not a new walk, but we haven't done it for a really long time. I think not since December 2020. After that point, even when we weren't officially confined within very close range, it didn't seem fair to be hoofing through other people's back yards, as it were, and it didn't seem sensible to be bunched up with people in the little ferries. Plus, the masking regulations back then made our longer routes very uncomfortable.

Anyway, today we decided it was time to do this route again.

Decidedly inauspicious was the snake -- we think it was a stegonotus borneensis -- that we saw before we'd even passed the Civic Centre...

Not at all threatening. It was primarily concerned with wiggling off down its roadside-drain transport route as fast as possible. Nevertheless, this is only the second snake we've seen in Kuching. (The first was a different species, I think, but it crossed the path in front of us at such a rate that we didn't get a good view. We don't hang around to photograph snakes, needless to say.)

Anyway, onwards. First destination: Satok pedestrian bridge. Since we've been in Kuching, this has been subject to a string of engineering problems (as you can see in these posts from October 2020 and May 2021). But in September 2021, it finally opened. You might remember how excited we were. Something new and different! Wonderful!

Well, it's closed again...

It closed in November last year (yes, mere minutes after it had opened), "because of works involving the installation of lights". In December, it was announced that it would open for three days for New Year, but after that it would be shut again, for work on the lights to continue...

You really have to wonder about all this...

So, we have lots of nice pictures of jolly Gawai lights. But we're back to taking the road bridge...





And on again. It's a very pretty route, and the sky was quite dramatic:


It was kind of moving to re-encounter the sleeping-beauty digger that we'd photographed back in October 2020. It's now even more in thrall to the plant world. It doesn't do to stay still too long in Borneo...


And finally, back across the river on one of the little ferries, which we'd taken countless times in pre-pandemic days.

I'm not 100% sure what happened, but this is the best reconstruction I can make:

A hefty guy and a young lad, maybe nine or ten years old, climbed on first. I'm pretty confident they were sitting on opposite sides of the boat. The guy moves towards the front to give me room to sit down. Which I start to do, just as the lad crosses the boat to join his father...

Now all the weight is on one side, and we start to tip. A large amount of river arrives in the boat. The guy bellows at the lad to get back whence he'd come quick smart.

The boat rights itself, and the water heads for the space under the decking, where presumably the pump will deal with it in due course.

My trousers are soaked from the knees down. Likewise my sandals. I knew that sooner or later the sandals would be drenched by some rainstorm or other. But heavens, they're not even two weeks old yet...

Once back on the southern bank, we decided to cut short the rest of the walk, and go home via Grab. It's really not comfortable walking in squelchy footwear.

Safely ensconced in our apartment again, we couldn't help smiling. It was as though the universe had given us a big wink, and said, "Well, you wanted NEW..."