Peter Hayes and Matt Howell (also Master Casting Instructors with the Federation of Fly Fishers) had been invited to go back there and so they mentioned to me that it was on, and so before you knew it we were all flying over to Malaysia.
After leaving Melbourne at midnight and being picked up by Dron Lee at the airport, we were straight off to see Nick's fly shop, the only fly fishing shop in Kuala Lumpur. Nick had some great gear at good prices (in fact his fly lines were cheaper than Australia!)
Nick's shop in KL.
Matt Howell and Haysie checking the gear out.
We then had breakfast and then it was off to work - well for Haysie. Matt and I went fishing while Haysie gave a CCI preparation workshop to budding Certified Casting Instructors.
Matt and I heading off fishing
We had some company in the trees - Matt's relatives, not mine :-)
Paul Arden from Sexyloops was also there. In this photo above he is putting two candidates through a Master Certified Casting Instructor preparation course.
Haysie chatting to a couple of our Malaysian amigos.
Hans van Klinken, famous for his Klinkhammer fly, opening the IFFF fair.
The Aussie MCIs, Haysie, Matt and yours truly
The event was held at the Shah Alam Botanic gardens and we were lucky enough to stay in some local Malay houses on site. They were very cool and comfortable.
Thats Matt in the background.
The Aussies shared the house with Paul Arden, in fact Paul and Haysie were 'lucky' enough to share a bed for a few nights. I have been sworn to secrecy as to who was spooning who! As you can see we had to let the locals know which countries were occupying which house. For us that meant bring a flag from Australia, for Mr Arden it just meant taking off his undies and flinging them over the balcony. See below for a close up (dont worry I haven't zoomed in too close for the 'close up' :-)
Here Haysie is having a chat to Marc Petitjean a world famous flytier.
After the event we all piled in the car for a midnight run to a fishing destination, that wait for it, was part of an amusement park! It had some great fish in it (well so I am told as I never saw one) :-)
Matt gearing up.
Haysie out in the canoe chucking a few flies around.
There were some large limestone cliffs. Thats Haysie in the canoe and Matt on the bank.
I spent a couple of hours fishing with Paul. Great fun - Paul managed to hook a cracker fish that peeled off about 70m of backing, before the tippet eventually snapped!
A nice venue!
Here was our transport - which is true... you look at the right side of the photo and not the left :-)
The boys coming back from a fish!
I had a superb time in Malaysia, I met some great guys and made some new friends. The Malaysia guys who showed us around were extremely kind and hospitable! Thank you!! I can't wait to go back.