Pranburi

Thank god for a well functioned  air condition in the hotel room. Good night sleep even if it's tropical heat outside. 

Very nice breakfast buffe gave us a good start to walk to the a local market to get some local fresh fruit. Fishing and the fish market is very big in this area so lots of odd fishes to have a look at and Kevin is very impressed when they file the fish. 

Ended up on the beach where we spent more time in the water then on land. That's the only place where the temperature is ok.  Had lunch at a very local restaurant on the beach. Fantastic Thai food for hardly any money. 

Walked back to the hotel, dived in the pool trying Kevin's new diving gear. Got our driver from the hotel to take us to the Shopping mall Lotus which was a disappointment. Very small. But we found a new wetsuit for Kevin which was the main reason for going.

Had dinner by the waterfront close to the hotel. First try of their spicy soup tonight. Oh my God!!!!  

Christchurch -Sydney -Bangkok - Pranburi

Of course when you want to have an early start the kids decide to sleep in. But our kids never sleep until extremely late, so by just before 10am we had had breakfast, packed everything in the car and cleaned the motel room. Started our drive towards Christchurch which gave us a some spectacular last hours in NZ. Saw several dolphins right of the coastal road we drove on. They seemed to be having lots of fun which we enjoyed watching.  Stopped to look at some seals as well along the way. Went on a quick shopping in Christchurch before returning the rental car. 

A very bumpy flight to Sydney where we spent an hour running around before of to Bangkok. Again the flights whet very well. Kids slept through most of the long flight which make life easier. 

Arrived just after midnight and manage to get a taxi for our two hours drive to our first destination Pranburi. We thought we'd double checked that they had understood where we were going. But still after two hours the driver stopped and asked to have a look at the address again. 04 in the morning after 14 hours flight with small kids is not the best warm-up for being patient with a lost driver who can't be bothered to check the address before start driving for hours! Argh!! After another hour we finally found our hotel.  Checked in and waited for another hours to be the first to the breakfast. Cooled down in the pool. Jet lag make us ahead of time. Breakfast at 6am made us want lunch at 10! We had our first delicious Thai meal, so jummy!! And unbelievable how cheap everything is. Daniel and the kids took a siesta in our hotel room while Pernilla tried Thai massage (90 min for 300bath/75kr!!!). 

Then we asked to get a ride to a beach with restaurants on. We ended up at a forest park on a beach without hardly any people and definitely no restaurants. I'd almost forgotten how people in Thailand nod, smile and make you believe they've understand exactly what you asked for when the haven't got a clue. We asked to be picked up in two hours and luckily  he understood and did exactly that. We had no problem spending the hours on the beach. So many crabs, fishes and strange animals in the 30 degree warm water can keep our kids entertained forever.

Kaikoura

Very slow start as it was a little cloudy today. Swam in the pool and walked in to town to see if we could find a fishing tour as Kevin has been asking for to go fishing for very long now. Everything was fully booked so it didn't seem to be a very good day. But weather was still hot and started to clear up while we walked along the beach when we suddenly saw some dolphins right by the waterfront where we were walking. Jumping and doing backwards flips and having a great time made us hang around the beach for a while. And sure they came a couple of more times to show of which was really nice and maybe even better the a fishing tour. We found a perfect spot for lunch where we had burgers and fish n chips while watching the dolphins. Pretty ok lunch!

While we were talking about things like the sea life and what else we could get up to since the fishing trips wasn't possible to arrange. Our place for lunch was right where the buses for the Whale Watch boats departs so we talked about maybe go check out the whales. But we both remember doing the whale watch by boat last time 7 years ago and we sure saw some whales but one of us also got sea sick. So we decided to see them from a helicopter instead. What an experience!! Just the helicopter ride was exciting! And the albatrosses and whales was soon cool!! Thank god the fishing boats were fully booked :-)

Kaikoura

We are so pleased that the temperature drops at night so that we can have a good night sleep. Had breakfast before jumping in the pool. Kevin is now swimming without any help! Today he took the big step to be independent in the pool. Though he's diving more the. Swimming. So hard work for his mum staying calm while watching, but so far he has everything under control. If you can see the video you'll see him in action. This is the was he can keep going for hours!

Had a second breakfast before heading to our kayak tour today. Got geared up and went of for some hours kayaking in crystal clear water accompanied by seals all around us and also several penguins. Only the dolphin s were missing. But a fantastic trip which made some of us very tired!! We had something light to eat and cooled of in the pool again before heading to a recommended place for fresh fish for dinner. 

Unfortunately only Per Lila fancy seafood so she was kind of alone enjoying tonight's dinner. Daniel sort of pretended to like it but the two little ones sneaked down to the beach as soon as they realized what was for dinner.

Wine and beer in the sunset rounded of another day on our favourite side of the world!!

Wellington to Kaikoura

Early start since our end destination today was Kaikoura on the South Island. But first a quick breakfast and a very tough goodbye to Lyn and Glenn. Not sure when we'll see them next and it makes us very sad knowing that we'll be struggling to do another trip like this again in the near future. So privileged to have had the chance to again stay in the same corner of the house that use to be Pernillas home 13 Years ago. Can't thank you enough!!!

Got on the ferry across to the South Island from Wellington at 8:25. 3 hours later after cruising through stunning fjord landscape we reached Picton. Had lunch by the waterfront and was going to chill in the shadow under a palm by the sea. The kids found a pond to play in and to cool down a bit in. But after 5 min we saw that they splashed water on a kid smaller and younger then Oliver. Told them of big time and when they kept pushing the limit with having stupid answers to everything they were thrown in to the car without any ice-cream at all today! Heading straight to Kaikoura. Best landscape I've ever seen. Colour of the water, seal colonies along the beach road, high mountains with snow on top, clear blue sky and 30 degrees outside made the trip go by very quick.

Went for a stroll to town to book a kayak tour for tomorrow that the kids have asked to do. (thanks Klasen!) Then dinner in town. You can tell their speciality is seafood. Soooo good!! Swam in the pool by the alpine Pacific Motel when we got back. Hottest day so far! Can't wait for the sun to go down so that the temperature can be human to sleep in.

Happy birthday Klasen!

Adrenaline Forest

Today Pernilla signed some papers saying that if she die we can't put the blame on anyone else but herself. Then she started to climb higher and higher in the Adrenaline Forest! Last level was at 30 metre on unstable platforms with flying fox from tree top to tree top and balancing on a thin rope. Amazing experience and with adrenaline pumping for several hours which was what it took to complete all levels. Lactic pumping in me forearms and shaky legs just had to be ignored!! And of course it was never an option to finish before completing all levels!

Then had a great time in the sun on Paraparaumu Beach in the afternoon while Daniel picked up some boots for Pernilla and stopped by a pharmacy to get things for the tattoo.
Last dinner for this time with Lyn, Glenn, Cat and Danny! 

Tattoo

Big day today! 10 hours tattooing for Daniel by Tim at Pacific Tatoo in Paekakariki with only a break to eat a pie. Pretty exhausted after those 10 hours, but very happy with the result. A typical maori/samoa tatoo where every little detail reflects something from his life.
While Daniel was under the needle the rest of the family went with Glenn to the National Museum Te Papa in Wellington. Fantastic museum in many ways. Especially how suitable it is for both young kids and adults at the same time. Got to feel an earthquake and to see the biggest octopus in the world!
Nice cooling swim in the pool when we got back and a great catch up and dinner with Dennis and Jane who came around to Lyn and Glenn for the night.