Phi Phi Day

We arranged for a 1 day charter to Phi Phi island ... perhaps the most picturesque of them all in the Gulf of Thailand. Snorkeling and beach was great ... the long journey to the terminal and back ... not so much. The fish were literally so thick in numbers that you could reach out and touch them. M+M found the best place on the ship ... riding the bow sprit all the way back to Phuket town. Another good day in the sun.

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Kamala Dreams

We sometimes wonder whether others thinks us crazy for taking on such an extensive and extended journey with kids. So many unknowns, too much risk etc. Our experience has been that traveling with children has been more asset than "liability". Take our week spent in Phuket for example:

We stayed at the Kamala Dreams ... a small beach hotel that was the first to bounce back from a strip of beach totally decimated by the 2004 tsunami (Dutch owner said he was heavily insured unlike many other local operators). It was great to have kids arriving at the airport ... we were directed to the passport control line reserved for crew and special needs customers ... nothing like an express lane at an airport queue.

One day while sitting on the beach we were witness to an armada of inflatable tenders hitting the shore from a 5 star cruise ship moored offshore. The crews quickly assembled a 5 star BBQ for the cruise guests arriving separately. Mikaela took on the role of Oliver Twist with Mitchell right behind as "the artful dodger" in the BBQ queue ... the innocence of childhood employed in the service of beach bums pining for some quality European fare. Needless to say, Fagan ate well that afternoon.

Another day, Mitch and I took a cruise on the hired motorbike over the hills to Patong Beach ... like a trip to the big bad beach city. We parked and took a 2 minute stroll down the beach and came back to the bike missing one helmet. Mitch spotted what looked like his helmet sitting 15 yards away on a big bike amongst a large fleet lined up in rows (for hire). I gathered that the "owner" of this section of curbside had taken the hat as an arbitrary parking fee. He was watching me as I moved closer with a scowl. Mitchell seemed to attract less concern ... so he just walked up, tried it on for size and fit, said "Yup this is it" and walked away wearing it. He jumped on our bike and off we went ... "borrowed back what was borrowed from he." Fun and skullduggery whilst beached in Thailand!

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Sawasdee Ka Ko Samui

Flying 90 minutes south by jet from Chiang Mai takes you out of the mountains to a totally different place and pace ... still Thailand but without the relentless city traffic and hustle of night markets.


We are at a resort on a mostly deserted Tong Yang beach on the west coast of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand. We make daily trips double or triple on the "Harley Hog" I hire at 10 bucks a day.


We know our way around the local town ... stopping first at "Heaven Available on Earth" coffee lodge, then the "beer store" before 2pm (Thai law prohibits sale 2-5pm for some bizarre reason) for some Heineken ($6 six pack) then to the banana stand road side for some fresh fruit ... then later to the fine dining cafe (pretty much all restaurants are wide open to the skies here) ... an eatery with zero percent ambiance but 100% excellent Thai food (tipped off by the crowds of locals inside). Some days we do the full island tour (1 hour). Every day we do homework with M+M before happy hour and the spectacular west coast sunset.






Easter Sunday we hop, hop, hop over to Phuket (pronounced poo-get) for a new view of Thai beach life. Apparently Phuket is pretty much 100% rebuilt after being devastated by 2004 Tsunami. Someone told me they even have internet on computers now! Maybe we can go online and find pictures of Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies ... this combined with Mikaela's easter bonnet ... feels just like home.

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Elephant Nature Park

Our girl Mikaela felt much better about going out (again) on a tour into the jungle. This time she was going to get up close with elephants.

We were picked up in a posh 12 passenger van (vs back of an old pickup truck we rode in out to the trek) and drove to a sanctuary the founder calls "elephant heaven". This local women has committed herself to a life long crusade to rescue injured and abused elephants from across this land. So far she has 31 elephants ... each with a story compelling enough to bring both ecotourists and documentary film makers from far and wide (her story and the elephants have been featured on Discovery, Animal Planet, CNN).


It was truly an educational experience for all. I was especially struck by the ying yang of this most revered creature in Thai culture ...

historically the tanks and bulldozers responsible for building the country ... now reduced to tourist shows and street beggers abused by Mahouts whose interest is only in showing his meal ticket who is boss.

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ps Mikaela is feeling better again today ... she and mom just left for Thai massage spa

North Thailand Jungle Trek

Our chief reasons for coming north to Chiang Mai were to go on a jungle trek (Karen)and to see some elephants (Mikaela). After checking into our Riverside Guest house (squeaky clean, free wireless internet, peaceful garden courtyard), we quickly booked a 3 day trek with No Boundaries tours and an additional day at Elephant Nature Park (sanctuary for rescued elephants as seen on Discovery).

The trek included elephant riding and bamboo rafting down a fast moving river, but was mostly long hours of tramping through steamy jungle.


We had an excellent guide who pointed out local customs, habits and food sources for the Karen tribe ... the indigenous people of N. Thailand and Burma who hosted our first overnight. M+M were benficiaries of his handicraft ... each taking away a bamboo spitball gun and drinking cup. The hiking up and down hills was punctuated by stops at small rural communities or "jungle 7 elevens" for water breaks or at waterfall pools for a swim.



At night we sat at a huge picnic table made from hand sawn teak wood and enjoyed a feast of 5 delicious dishes prepared by the guide and porters. We were amazed by the spread they put on, especially considering the primitive conditions in the village we were in -- no electricity, no telephones, homemade clothes, eat what you grow etc - they did however have a cooler with a bunch of 50 cent cold beer. Any pangs of guilt I felt knowing that somebody hauled in the ice for this treat was somehow washed away, but not without a determined re-rinse.

Later, we sat up late under candle light singing John Lennon and John Denver tunes with the guide. Trying to sing along was part fun and part lost-in-the-translation frustration funny.

Camp fires here go out when the cooking is done. We retired to a decidedly "firm" bed of bamboo slats over bamboo joists. We woke at 4 am to roosters crowing to each other across the hills as well as the sounds of unmarried tribes women ... up early fo prepare unsheathed rice in order to impress the local tribesmen (mortar and pestal noisy contraption).

Everything was good for me right up to the sleeping on a a bed of stone and the 4 am wake up call. Mikaela was having a tougher time with culture shock. She couldn't believe that there are people in the world that would call "that village" home. Live and learn I guess: a walk in the park means "good" or "easy" more so in some parks than others ... so off we went for 2 more days and one more night of wonder.


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Steamy Bangkok

Thai Airways did a spectacular job of transporting us 12 hrs north east (6 time zones) to Bangkok. We stepped out of airport at 22:30 into 33C evening breeze. After an eager driver failed at stuffing all of us and our luggage into his Corolla, we managed to commandeer a new minivan cab. Even after reading online about all the taxi ripoffs and what not to do or say we still payed way too much.

It is difficult to get upset though when the 42k trip to our hotel totaled just over $18Cdn. Since landing we've both agreed that sometimes, though always expected, bargaining is just a little embarrassing. Sometimes I just don't give a Baht .... it's just too hot to bother saving 50 cents on some Pad Thai street side on Kaho San Rd.


We visited the Grand Palace today.

WOW! Quite the visual feast.

We are not wearing iPods in the pics ... rented audio tour equipment to try to assist the lay person appreciate the grandeur and history of what is standing before us.


Did I mention it is HOT here?

BOSgone (for a cold beer)

City of Sails

As the weeks roll by we are getting used to the rhythm of downtown living in New Zealand's "big city". Life is a mix of home schooling activities, running errands and special day trips.

One benefit of our central location is that we can walk everywhere. Downtown buses are either free or nearly so for our trips. We have been going to different parks everyday lately.

Last Sunday was one of Auckland's biggest celebrations ... a free symphony concert in the park with their favourite 'Dame' headlining a full playbill including a full philharmonic orchestra and a wonderful choir 750 voices strong ... along with a mixed bag of piano and violinist virtuosos with a laser / fireworks light show at the finale. A truly magical night for us including Mitchell and Mikaela who got up when instructed to participate in the Blue Danube crowd participation waltz.




We visited Auckland museum and had a chance to see Maori cultural performance and historical artifacts from Australasia and Pacific Oceania. At the end of that day, however, Mitchell figured the railing outside the entrance was his favourite... perfect for practicing urban Ninja routines.



One of our last trips was 45K north to Waiwera's famous thermal springs... a commercial enterprise harnessing natural thermal pools of mineral water and packaging them up in bottles to drink and pools of a variety of temperatures to swim in.

The kids liked the water slides best ...I think the best part of the day was the after the soaking hike we took up in Wenderholm park ... the payoff being spectacular views land and see the pic.


We are off soon to Thailand. We're a little nervous to be leaving the comfort of English speaking lands for the steamy metropolis in 'the land of smiles' ... Bangkok.

So long to the city of sails.


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Playing Kiwi

We've been trying to mix up routine with new experiences to round out our Kiwi experience. Pretty much every day we go out for fresh bread and supplies, stop off at Four Bucks (new name, not mine, for Starbucks) for a read and a real java, wind down in the impressive public library around the corner or maybe hang out down at Westhaven yacht club for a while.




All of us are enjoying the availability (both proximity and extra time) of the "club" downstairs for daily work outs ... it has a huge wall of windows that casts an inviting light over the machines and lane pool ... and I'm a regular in the steam sauna too.




The pic of the building is taken from the park we visit most days ... the whole top floor is our apartment except for 2 small windows, the whole bottom floor showing is gym facilities. Notice our opened windows ... pretty much 24/7 for us ... no screens provided nor needed here ... very few bugs it seems.

Saturday night sports here is not hockey ... it is rugby and it is taken very seriously in Auckland. Apparently the Kiwis were knocked out of the world cup last year in the semis. Opening night for the pro league was Sat the 16th. Stadium is walking distance so we decided to go. The crowd was enthusiastic with a strange mix of ambivalence ... not fully out of mourning yet from last year's embarrassing loss I gathered. This is what happened at the match:



the Blues gained the ascendancy in the second half, adapting better than the Chiefs to the new rules and the demands of a fast-paced game. Their scrum was dominant and their forwards constantly made ground with raids around the fringes of rucks and mauls. When possession tipped in the Blues favor in the second half, its talented backline was able to take full advantage, eventually grabbing a bonus-point try.

Look at me speaking Kiwi sport talk now ... nice try!

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Stubbed my Rangitoto

Rangitoto is an iconic landmark of Auckland as its distinctive symmetrical 260 metre high shield volcano cone is visible from much of the city. Much like the 'Sleeping Giant' in Thunder Bay, not much goes on there except as a destination for hikers seeking to escape the city.



The hike to the summit is not easy ... not because of the incline or the elevation, but more because of the heat and terrain. The island is made from volcanic rock whose dark shade of black serves to soak up the sun's rays and raise the temperature on the island by at least 5 degrees C. Hiking requires careful attention to the trail ahead as there is no chance of a cushioned landing if one should trip. More likely the feeling would be just one degree better than landing in molten lava.



We ended up having to rush back down the mountain to make sure we didn't miss the last ferry back ... for some reason images of me with Mr Frodo and Sam leaping from perch to perch while dodging hot lava as we descended down through the danger to land safely at the wharf with little time to spare. (Can you believe I once got kicked out of "Let's Pretend 101" at York U's faculty of Fine Arts!)

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Park Lane Apartment - Auckland

We are settling into life in the city core ... home is 68 Greys Ave ... gentrified neighbourhood steeped in history me thinks ... nice pad with high ceilings and tons of windows ... overlooking Meyers park ... making daily trips for groceries, to the library, to the museum and up to the waterfront. Everything good in Auckland, we are told, is north ... the best exposure (sunny) is north; the waterfront is north; beaches are north; train station is north; ferries to the islands is north; supermarket, banks and fancy shops are north. Uphill and south to "K" road, we were warned, is "the wrong direction for anyone with a family" ... "over the precipe to the dark side" ... "wrong side of the tracks" ... etc.



Hearing this, I (of course) steeled my nerve and did my best to lose the Clark Griswald look I've been carrying ... immediately hiked up there to take a look ... found a more interesting and eclectic mix of shops, cafes, bars and business men doing lunch ... oh yeah can't forget the 2 ugly hookers, a strip joint and a shiny club with a rainbow flag. Remarkably, I escaped with my integrity in tact and my wallet unscathed. Imagine that ... travel advice sprinkled with fear mongering. ... enough to make you want to pull the curtains tight and turn on the Sky TV Dukes of Hazard reruns.

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ps M+M sometimes turn off Disney channel and watch the creatures that creep out of their lairs nightly and "perform" below us in the park ... they are learning Kiwi gutter talk and 50 different ways to kill brain cells .... hmmmmmmmm