Silja: Ao Nang (3)

One day we took the "bus" to Krabi Town. It leaves about every 10 minutes from Ao Nang and is a pick-up-truck with a roof and two benches. It  leaves as soon as at it is full. I was not quite happy with this unsave means of transport but luckily we did not drive fast. In towns we even went slow enough for people to hopp on and off.

Krabi was so busy and hot that it was almost too much to take in. We visited a beautiful and serene temple (with monastary) that felt like an oasis to us.

Plai Plong Beach near Ao Nang

We had been in Ao Nang for over a week, when we exploared its beaches for the first time. Ao Nang beach itself just had not appealed to us. There is heavy boat traffic, the waters are not clear and the beach is packed. However, once you have passed the boats and the massage parlors, you cross a creek  to a little beach full of monkeys. That freaked Lisa out! She was standing in the creek, refusing to step on the "monkey-infested" beach. Luckily we all survived passing the monkeys and started to climb up wooden steps through the jungle, to then descent down to a lovely enclosed beach! 

"Leonardo? Where are you? Lots of Ladies are waiting!

The waters were clearer there than in Ao Nang, but no comparison to Phi Phi Island, which is famous for its snorkeling conditions and beautiful beaches. We booked a day trip by speed boat. One of the beaches we visited had been the location for the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo di Caprio. Even though it was packed with people, Leonardo was nowhere to be seen. Bummer!

By now little Lea has become so confident in the water and with her head under water that I could snorkel properly for the first time and did not have to stop after 5 minutes. It was amazing, but Lisa and Niklas have written so much about it already that I will not go into more detail. The next day we had to pack our things to move on to Koh Lanta. That will be the last destination of our great adventure.

Lea erzählt (2)

Elefanten sind so schön, dass ich einen als Haustier haben will. Hier gibt es viele tolle Tiere: Geckos, Affen am Strand, Pfauen, Frösche, Eidechsen, Spinnen, Vögel, Schildkröten und ausserdem haben wir schöne Fische gesehen. Ich mache das schon toll mit dem Tauchen! Mama und ich schwimmen und tauchen zusammen. Jetzt kann ich sogar schon einen Schnorchel benutzen.
Morgen ziehen wir in ein  neues Haus um. Dahin fahren wir Auto und Boot.

Niklas: Uke 19 / Woche 19

Vi tok en båt, som vi kjørte oss til en dame som het Simone og der klatret vi veldig mye: Opp i en flaggermushule og til et utsiktspunkt.
Etter noen dager kjørte vi til noen strender og to ganger måtte man hoppe fra båten for å snorkle. Fiskene var veldig fine og vi så en koffertfisk og en sverm av blåe fisker - tusenvis av blåe fisker!- og to sjønåler. Fra båten på veien tilbake så vi flyvende fisker. I morgen skal vi flytte til en annen bungalow på en annen øy.

Mit einem Boot sind wir zu einer Frau gefahren, die Simone heisst und dort sind wir ganz viel geklettert: In einer Fledermaushöhle und zu einem Aussichtspunkt. Ein paar Tage später fuhren wir zu ein paar Stränden und zwei Mal musste man ins Wasser hüpfen und schnorcheln. Die Fische waren toll und wir sahen einen Kofferfisch und einen Schwarm blauer Fische - tausende blauer Fische! - und zwei Seenadeln. Auf dem Rückweg sahen wir fliegende Fische vom Boot aus. Morgen ziehen wir um in einen anderen Bungalow auf einer anderen Insel.

Lisa kjører båt. \ Lisa fährt Boot.

Vi er fortsatt i det lille fine huset vårt. Vi kjørte båt forbi mange øyer som Chicken island og Moskito island og andre forskjellige øyer som jeg ikke husker lenger. På stoppene fikk man snorkle hvis man ville og vi gjorde det på alle stedene hvor vi stoppet. Det var 2 spesielle steder hvor det var flest fisker. Vi så papgøyefisker, sjønåler, sjøagurker og mange andre fisker som jeg ikke vet hva de heter. Dessverre så vi ikke en Nemo-fisk. Det var en fin dag på båten. 

Jeg har også fått en ny venn, som heter Lucy og er fra Frankrike. Det var vanskelig å forstå hverandre, men det gikk med tegnespråk og litt engelsk.

Hilsen, Lisa på båten.

Wir sind noch immer in unserem kleinen schönen Haus. Wir sind Boot gefahren, an vielen Inseln vorbei wie Chicken Insel und Mosquito Insel und andere Inseln an die ich mich nicht mehr erinnere. An den Stops konnte man schnorcheln wenn man wollte und das haben wir an allen Stellen gemacht an denen wir gestoppt haben. An 2 speziellen Stellen waren besonders viele Fische. Wir sahen Papageienfische, Seenadeln, Seegurken und viele andere Fische deren Namen ich nicht kenne. Leider sahen wir keinen Nemo-Fisch. Es war ein schöner Tag auf dem Boot. Ich habe auch eine neue Freundin, die Lucy heisst und aus Frankreich kommt. Es war schwierig einander zu verstehen, aber es ging mit Zeichensprache und ein bisschen Englisch.

Grüsse, Lisa vom Boot.

Silja: Ao Nang (2)

It has been a while since the last entry and since then we have become more acquainted with both country and lifestyle. When on holiday as a family we like to be self-contained and do usually not choose to stay in hotels, where a room for the 5 of us is often hard to come by. However, we discovered that it is wonderful to just get up in the morning and go to a ready-made breakfast buffet where everyone can choose according to their own liking and have someone else do the cleaning and washing.
(To be quite honest: I am still a bit uncomfortable with the latter.)

By now we have fallen into a completely different pace, taking a trip every other day or so, but spending hours on the terrace or at the pool.

A year ago my friend Simone had moved to Thailand but since she had been moving around quite a bit I was very surprised to find out that she was only a short boat ride away!

Fish fighting over a piece of Lea's banana

Excitedly we all got on a long tail boat at Ao Nang Beach and got off at Railay West - and there she was!!! After the kids had enjoyed the beach for a while and we had done some catching-up, she took us to a view point, for which we climbed up a steep, slightly muddy wall on ropes. With the children we decided against climbing down to the lagoon in such muddy conditions. Instead we went on to the famous Phranang Beach for a swim and lunch off a boat. At one end of the beach we then entered the mangroves and climbed up to Bat Cave. Even though only Simone and Axel had a light, we went deeper and deeper into the pitch-black cave and climbed dodgy bamboo ladders up and through the rock until we could look down through this hole at the other end. What a great adventure! Especially Niklas was very pleased with that day!
Our next adventure was an organized boat trip to several islands with snorkeling as an objective. Even though the corals are quite damaged, the snorkeling was the best I have ever done! Especially at Daeng Island there were sooo many colourful fish that came to check out the boat and us. Lisa was quite freaked out by the fact that some took little bites to taste us, too. Even though they are said to leave your skin smooth by eating old skin cells, she did not appreciate the favour. Lea was not quite comfortable bobbing in the great big ocean either and returned to the boat where an older German couple gave her bananas to feed the fish - so she got to see lots of fish, too!
After a round through Hong's Lagoon, we were served lunch on fantastic Lading Island, before a last round of swimming and snorkeling on Hong beach.
At 4 o'clock we returned to Ao Nang Beach with two sleeping children (Lea and Niklas) and more unforgettable memories.

Lisa i Thailand. / Lisa in Thailand.

Vi måtte  stå opp klokka halv 6 for og rekke flyet til Thailand siden nå var det slutt med Australia. Vi måtte sitte i 6 timer på flyet for å komme heeeelt til Thailand. Vi fløy også over mange andre land.

I THAILAND:    Vi gjør og ser mange ting, også å ri på elefanter. Det var veldig artig å ri på elefanten.
Nå har jeg blitt sikkelig flink til å svømme.  Jeg kan ta salto i vannet og hodestupe og kråle og til og med svømme og hope som en delfin.

Wir mussten um halb 6 aufstehen, um nach Thailand zu fliegen, denn unsere Zeit in Australien war vorbei. Wir mussten 6 Stunden im Flugzeug sitzen und flogen über viele andere Länder.
IN THAILAND: Wir machen und sehen viele Dinge, u.a. Elefantenreiten. Das war sehr lustig!
Ich bin jetzt sehr gut im Schwimmen geworden. Ich kann Salto im Wasser machen und Kopfsprung und Kraulen und hüpfen und schwimmen wie ein Delfin.

Silja: Ao Nang (1)

 We arrived here in Thailand five days ago and the impressions have been so numerous that I do not know where to start. This is our first time in Asia (- other than in transit). We were met by a very friendly guy at the airport in Phuket, who drove us to Ao Nang Cliff View Resort. The journey took almost two hours, so we got to see quite a bit of the country already, passing incredible Buddhist temples and mosques, elephants, busy markets, dramatic sandstone cliffs and entire families pluss shoppingbags driving along on one moped.

It was dark when we arrived at the resort, where they led us through jungle-like gardens to our spacious bungalow, that looks traditional and rustic from the outside, but is new and modern inside. The kids loved it at once and they were in heaven when they checked out the pool the next day.  When I refused to give Niklas any floating devices he found out what I already suspected: He can swim! Ever since he has been practicing relentlessly and was racing his big sister at the end of that day. The next day the two of them started diving down to the bottom of the pool until they could bring up objects from the deep end (2m)! On the third day they were doing summersaults and head-first-dives from the sides. Their proud mum is quite impressed by that learning curve. Lisa can even add life saving to her list: Lea was unaware that she was not wearing her floating devices yet and went right into the water, not making any sound, when she gradually went under. It was Lisa who shrieked and held her up until we were there to pull her out of the pool. 

Even though the kids would be contempt at the pool all day every day, we booked a tour on the third day. First we visited Tiger Cave Temple, which is the biggest attraction surrounded by many others: You can climb over 1200 steps to a view point and/or walk a loop trail through the jungle, passing other decorated caves and huge trees. There are decorated statues everywhere and it would have felt like a very sacred place if it had not been for for the many school children running around. For them our kids seemed to be the biggest attraction, since several of them got their phones out to take pictures of us. Later a family asked whether our kids could join their kid for a photo. 

After that we were taken deeper into the jungle to go elephant trekking. The children were all a bit sceptical at first but enjoyed the swaying ride after a while. Niklas was even invited to sit in front with the guide and dared to do it! Towards the end of the jungle trekk they led the elefants into a lake and the one Lisa and I were sitting on was about to take a full bath but could luckily be pursuaded otherwise. We rewarded the elephants with a basket full of bananas which Lisa and Niklas bravely fed to them while Lea started peeling one for herself. When we got back to the bungalow guess where we went!?! Yes, straight to the pool!

Lea erzählt (1)

Wir haben eine riesige Spinne gesehen.
Wir gehen jetzt alle zusammen zum Pool. Ich habe einen neuen Badeanzug, der aussieht wie ein Kleid und den alten haben wir weggeschmissen.
Im Pool schmeisst der Papa mich ganz hoch und ich spiele mit meiner Meerjungfrau. Mama hat mich auch hochgeschmissen, aber der Papa schmeisst mich höher.
Im Restaurant habe ich Pizza und Eis bekommen und dann kam eine Katze, vor der ich Angst hatte. Ein Pizzastück war runtergefallen und das hat die Katze gefressen.

Niklas: uke 17/ Woche 17

VI  VAR  I  ET  FLY  FRA  AUSTRALIA  TIL  THAILAND, HER  ER DET  MYE  JUNGEL  MED  MANGE  LYDER.  JEG  FIKK RI PÅ EN ELEFANT GJENNOM JUNGELEN OG JEG FIKK LOV TIL Å SITTE FORRAN! DET GYNGET VELDIG.
DER VI BOR NÅ ER DET ET BASSENG OG DER HER JEG LÆRT MEG Å SVØMME OG DYKKE OG HODESTUPE!
I THAILAND FINNES DET KJEMPEMANGE GEKKOER, EDDERKOPPER OG APER.

Wir sind mit dem Flugzeug von Australien nach Thailand geflogen. Hier gibt es viel Dschungel mit vielen Geräuschen. Ich bin auf einem Elefanten durch den Dschungel geritten und ich durfte vorne sitzen! Das hat sehr geschaukelt.
Da wo wir jetzt wohnen gibt es einen Pool, wo ich schwimmen, tauchen und Kopfsprung gelernt habe! In Thailand gibt es sehr viele Geckos, Spinnen und Affen. 

Niklas: uke 16 / Woche 16

Vi var på en suuuuuper lekeplass. En god stund senere kjørte vi til Bunbury. Bunbury er en by som jeg hadde feiret bursdagen min i for å se delfiner men med lite hell. Denne gangen så vi mange delfiner, som kom ganske nære!
Vi kjørte videre til et museum der det var mye å se, som for eksempel dinosaurer og kjeften av en hvithai! Vi besøkte også et akvarium, der man kunne gå på et bånd som gikk rundt inn i et digert akvarium full av fisker, haier og kjempestore skildpadder.

Wir waren auf eienem suuuper Spielplatz. Bald darauf fuhren wir nach Bunbury. Bunbury ist eine Stadt, wo ich meinen Geburtstag gefeiert hatte, um Delfine zu sehen, aber mit wenig Glück. Diesmal sahen wir viele Delfine, die ganz schön nah kamen. Wir fuhren weiter zu einem Museum, wo es viel zu sehen gab, wie zum Beispiel Dinosaurier und das Maul von einem weissen Hai! Wir besuchten auch ein Aquarium, wo man auf einem Fliessband in einem riesen Becken herumfahren konnte, das voller Fische, Haie und riesige Schildkröten war.

Lisa ser delfiner.\Lisa sieht Delfine.

Vi kjørte tilbake til Bunbury hvor vi hadde feiret bursdagen vår, men på bursdagen så vi ingen delfiner, men denne gangen så vi 3 ganger delfiner. Den første gangen var det en delfin som het Eclipse, den andre gangen var det Eclips igjen og den tredje gangen var det Levy, moren til Eclipse og Levy hadde med seg 2 gutter som slåss mot hverandre om henne, siden Levy ville ha barn igjen. Det var en spennende dag!
Vi for til en strand hvor vi hadde vært før og hvor vi hadde sett en rokken. Denne gangen så vi store fisker og Lea fikk et brannsår av en brennmanet. Vi opplevde også mange andre ting der.

Wir fuhren zurück nach Bunbury, wo wir unseren Geburtstag gefeiert hatten, aber an unserem Geburtstag sahen wir keine Delfine, aber diesmal sahen wir 3 Mal Delfine. Das erste Mal kam ein Delfin, der Eclipse hiess. Das zweite Mal kam auch Eclipse und beim dritten Mal war es Levy, die Mutter von Eclipse, die zwei männliche Delfine bei sich hatte. Sie kämpften um Levy, die wieder Kinder haben will. Das war ein spannender Tag!
Wir gingen an einen Strand, wo wir schon einmal gewesen sind und einen Rochen gesehen hatten. Diesmal haben wir grosse Fische gesehen und Lea wurde von einer Feuerqualle gebrannt. Wir erlebten viel dort.

Silja: Bremer Bay - Porongurup NP – Manjimup – Donnybrook – Bunbury

Porongurup

Bremer Bay was to be our turning point. Now we had one week to head back to Perth from where we will be flying to Thailand.

We went back to Porongurup National Park, where it had been raining last time we were there. Now the weather was perfect and we all really enjoyed the 3-km-round-trip to Castle Rock, stunning rock formations with a newly installed «sky walk».Our 3 little mountain goats had a lot of attention and  praise from other (elderly) tourists.

From here we headed further North-West right through the middle of nowhere. For lunch we stopped in Manjimup, where the «Timber Park» with nature walks, historic houses and steam trains kept us occupied for quite some time. Axel particularly loved the exhibit of a bush school, that was usually run by one teacher, who was also responsible for emptying the toilets. I would not hear the end of that one and when we passed a lady cleaning the public toilet of some little town he said :»That was probably the local teacher!» Ha ha!

At the hottest time of the day we arrived in Donnybrook, which is known for their apple and pear industry and because that industry has sponsored a huge playground. It also had a part with work-out-machines for grown-ups, so we all had great fun!

Early the next morning we went back to the Dolphin Discovery Center in Bunbury, where we had not seen any dolphins when we spent Lisa's and Niklas' birthday there. We sure got the full works this time! Lisa was the first to spot a young dolphin coming in. Her name was Eclipse and she stayed for quite some time, checking out the tourists that were standing in line, all exited to see her. She came back for a second inspection a little later and got so close to Lisa that she could have touched her. Lisa was spellbound whereas Niklas almost panicked. Lea thought it was so boring that she asked to be brought back to the beach. There was even a third visit and this time it was Eclipse's  mother Levy, who was pursued by two male dolphins. When they started to play it a bit rough we were asked to leave the water – but what a show to watch!

On our way out of the center, Lisa bought dolphin-goggles in the gift shop and did not take them off for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately they turned out to leak water, when she put them to the test at the beach (Woodman Point) the next day. That was the day we lost Leas goggles so it is still good to have the extra pair. What happened was: Lea must have gotten the tentacles of a poisonous jellyfish between her legs and jumped hysterically out of the water and up and down on the beach. The goggles were filling up with tears, so I took them off and carried a reluctant and still hysterical Lea to the shower. When I washed her off she calmed down so that obviously helped. Naturally she would not go back into the ocean, but this was our last beach-visit in Australia anyway.

We drove into Perth and visited the Western Australian Museum, which was great and we might return on Sunday. For Saturday we had different plans: We drove along the coast to the North to visit AQWA, the aquarium of Western Australia, which ranks as nr 10 in the world. We had a great day, but found there was more to see in L.A.'s Aquarium of the Pacific, which ranks lower. It is the tunnel that goes in a circle through an enormous tank with sharks, stingrays, turtles etc.that had won them the rank.

It had been a good way to end our stay in Western Australia! All that is left to do now is to pack, post this blog and then we are off to Thailand!

Lisa hoppet til solen / Lisa hüpft bis zur Sonne

Her ser dere Lea, som fikk seg nye sko. Bildet ble tatt i fjellet "Stirling Range" mens vi barna var på en liten kveldstur med Pappa mens Mamma lagdte mat. Eukalyptustrærne luktet veldig godt der!
Vi går også til mange strender, men vi har ikke badet i det siste fordi det var for kalt, men det var ikke for kalt til å være på stranden og hoppe fra steiner i sanden.
På en strand var vannet litt varmere enn andre plasser og der fantes det sjødrager! Det er sjeldene dyr, som bare finnes i Western Australia.

Hier seht ihr Lea mit ihren neuen Schuhen. Das Bild wurde im Gebirge "Stirling Range" gemacht, während wir Kinder auf einem Abendspaziergang mit Papa waren und Mama Essen gekocht hat. Die Eukalyptusbäume rochen sehr gut dort! Wir besuchen auch viele Strände, aber wir haben in letzter Zeit nicht gebadet, weil es zu kalt war - aber es war nicht zu kalt, um am Strand von Steinen in den Sand zu hüpfen.
An einem Strand war das Wasser wärmer als anderswo und da gab es Seedrachen. Das sind seltene Tiere, die es nur in Westaustralien gibt.

Niklas: uke 15 / Woche 15

Jeg slapper avmed utsikt over havet og Albany

Vi gikk til noen sandduner og klatret på dem. På veien ditt traff vi på kenguruer.  Her har det regnet mye de siste dagene og det var ganske kjælig. Det er synd fordi vi besøkte mange fine strender.

Wir sind zu Sanddünen gegangen und auf sie geklettert. Auf dem Weg dorthin trafen wir auf Känguruhs. In den letzten Tagen hat es viel geregnet und es war kühler. Das war blöd, weil wir viele tolle Strände besucht haben.

Silja: Denmark - Albany – Stirling Range - Bremer Bay

The weather stayed rather cool and windy, so Denmark, WA with its huge beaches and sand dunes felt very much like the Denmark we know. We also visited some beautiful beaches on the peninsula South of Albany, like «Salmon Hole» or «Frenchman Bay» and saw stunning rockformatins like «The Gap» and «Natural Bridge», as well as blowholes in which the rather big swell created starteling noises.

Albany was a very friendly, pleasant town but not quite the hub we expected since it is the biggest town down here. From here we went further inland to visit Porongurup National Park and the Stirling Range. Unfortunately it started to rain when we got to Porunguruo and so we decided against the Castle Rock Trail, which newly has been upgraded with a modern «skywalk», which we hope to check out on our way back.

Even though it was still raining every now and then when we got to the Stirling Range that really was something! It was impressive to see the mountains rise from afar and as we got closer the flora changed and we saw plants that we had never seen before and they were flowering, too! We later learned that the Stirling Range is a biodiversity hotspot with a large number of endemic species. We all went on the trail that leads up to the summit of Bluff Knoll (1100m above sea level) but only Axel made it all the way to the top.

We headed even further inland, hoping to show the children the outback, but that area, even though it is very little populated, is known as the wheat belt and there is nothing wild about it. It was now raining constantly and the highlight of the day was a visit to the library in Jerramungup, a very small town, where everyone we passed gave a little wave. We were the only visitors at the rather modern and nice library, where two staff members were more than willing to provide us with a weatherforecast and other information about our next destination: Bremer Bay.

It was still drizzeling when we found a place to spend the night next to one of the incredibly white beaches. A sign claims that you can see sea dragons when snorkeling. Even though the weather improved slightly the next day, we did not feel for a swim. Nevertheless we checked out all the beautiful beaches and an enormous sand dune.