34 hour journey to the next paradise

34 hours of travelling… wow.

Now you’re probably wondering how it could take so long. Well, here goes:

• Taxi from Koh Lanta to Krabi airport: 2 hours
• Krabi airport: 2 hours
• Flight to Bangkok: 1.5 hours
• Bangkok airport: 3.5 hours
• Flight to Sydney: 9.5 hours
• Sydney airport: 3.5 hours
• Flight to Auckland: 3.5 hours
• Wait for missing luggage & get campervan: 4 hours
• Midnight drive to our camping spot in Whangaumu Bay: 4.5 hours.

The trip didn’t feel as bad as you might think though. We had plenty of slack in the schedule so we could take plenty of breaks and didn’t need to stress. The iGadgets (iphones & ipad) saved us several times when the kids got bored or fidgety.

The only real problem was at the end of the journey at Auckland airport, when we found that several pieces of luggage were missing. The problem was that we wanted to wait for our late luggage to arrive (on the next flight from Sydney). However, we had to pick up the campervan by 17:30 or they would close, and we would be homeless and exhausted on Christmas eve. How fun is that? So after a few panicky minutes of evaluating options we decided to split up – I took Dave & Emma and got the campervan while Sia & Peter & Jenny stayed at the airport to wait for the luggage.

But then when Sophia was going to meet me afterwards her taxi couldn’t find the campervan place, and then our phones died so we didn’t know how to find each other and, well, it was a mess. Everything seemed to be going wrong.

Things worked out in the end though, and we finally got to Whangaumu Bay (north of Auckland) and hung out a few days with Gabby (Gabrielle Benefield) and her family. They had found a nice camping spot for us right near their summer house by the beach. (Hmmm, always feels weird talking about summer in December…)

Anyway we played on the beach, paddled kayaks, took walks in the sun, played with remote-controlled helicopters, ate lots of good food, and just had a great time. Definitely worth the 34 hour transit!

Sydney

Actually having a lovely airport xmas morning in Sydney, while in transit to Auckland. Peter is having a blast just looking out the window where there’s aeroplanes, trucks, ground crew with funny utility vehicles… weather’s so-so, we’ll skip Bondi Beach today (no worries mates, we’ll be back to tour Australia another time! :)

(post uploaded more than a month later due to iphone idleness…)

Goodbye paradise!

Early morning departure from Slow Down – the Koh Lanta Paradise! We’ll miss the place, the people and the atmosphere!

Barnmassage

Skolavslutning med stil

Frågor om Thailand.

Thailand ligger i Asien. 

Såhär ser Thailands flagga ut.

 

Det bor 69,122,234 i Thailand. Det är mer än i Sverige.

Huvudstaden i Thailand heter Bangkok. Där bor det 9,100,000 människor. Jag är på Koh Lanta. Där bor det 20,000 människor.

Språket kallas för Thailenska.

Savadikap betyder hej. Killar säger savadikap och tjejer säger savadika.

Såhär skriver man David på Thailenska

Thailands pengar kallas för Baht. ฿ Såhär ser Baht tecknet ut. 100฿ är lika mycket som 20kr.

En dyr glass kan kosta 100฿ i Thailand. Men en billig glass kan kosta 10฿ i Thailand.

Här i Thailand har jag sett massa konstiga djur och det har varit jätte varmt.

 

_David

 

Orm show

Thailändare är jättetokiga men också jättebra med ormar. Jag själv har sett på orm show. Kolla här på bilderna där kan ni se vad dom gjorde med ormarna.

_David

Cool shades

Beach volleyball with the kids

Every Tuesday Jenny plays beach volleyball with the other kids. She’s good at it! Dave usually sits in the referee tower keeping score, this time accompanied by Peter and Emma.

This is one of many things we will miss when leaving Thailand on Friday.

How many families can fit in a tuk-tuk?

We’re amazed by how many people a tuk-tuk can fit. Last night we drove to Saladan to have dinner and managed to squeeze in 9 people on our measly little tuk! Maybe we should sell our Chrysler Voyager when we get home :o)