16 September - Date Night

Keeping the relationship fire burning in Pohnpei. Thursday night was date night and off to the Village for dinner we went. A great meal with starters, mains, deserts and beer/champayne for under $40 it was a great start to the night.

It was hot, as it always is, and beer makes a good head cooler.

Champayne by the glass load. Life is good in Pohnpei.

We got the movie cinema for a 9pm flick. They told us that without four paying customers the film wouldn't be paid. Well at 8.55pm and no one else in sight I paid for four people, best $10 we've spent on island. The hardest part was chosing what seat we wanted.

The staff kept coming in to check on us. Don't know what they thought we would get up to in a cinema all by ourselves........

10 Sep - Kids Fishing Tournament

Just off the plane in time to get to the Kids Fishing Tournament. The age limit was 4-15 years old so this was the first one Jaxon could enter. I'm not sure who was the keenest, Jaxon or myself. Fishing was restricted to areas inside the barrier reef. This meant bottom fishing only but realistically not many 4 years olds are going to wind in a tuna so this was a good thing. It also made it easier to manage my 'old man' back.

Jaxon, Patrick and Franciso on the Australian Embassy boat. It is a very 'dry' boat which is great in Pohnpei.

Jaxon all fired up for a morning fishing session.

First monster for the day, a little leather jacket. It was a matter of Francisco or I hooking a fish and then handing the rods or handlines over to the boys to wind up.

Jaxon's second fish of the day, a little coral trout.

Patrick with a nice white snapper.

Patrick's turn for a little coral trout.

As luck would have it, it was Jaxon's turn to pull in a fish when the big one hit. A little maori wrasse which on any other day would have been thrown back.

Nic, Caroline, Imogen and Indi met us on dock. Patrick was with Jaxon all morning, now it was Indi's turn for some 'Patrick Time'.

Jaxon's monster ended claiming him second prize - a diawa rod and reel combo. Wayne Bricknell is an expat Aussie who has lived on Pohnpei for a long time. He and his wife organise all the prizes and make sure that every child receives a prize. Even the ones that just turn up to watch the presentation got something. A great day that is looked forward to every year. Top job.

No better way than a slip and slide tarp to keep the kids entertained.

The kids proudly show off their new Pohnpei Fishing Club 2011 shirts.

A proud Dad and his new fishing buddy. Winners are grinners and it tasted great too.

10 Sep - Kayak Trip

Nic and our friend Caroline decided to take our Kayaks out for a paddle while Jaxon and I were competing in the annual Kids Fishing Tournament. The weather held out for the morning so the girls headed out to one of the nearby islands.

Once ashore Indi and Imogen enjoyed being out of the kayaks and played in the sand. What is it with kids and sand.

The girls found a really cool passage through the mangroves. Imogen looks like she is in the Business Class seat.

Little Miss Independent must have her hands on the paddle at all times. Gets a little frustrating when you actually want to get somewhere. Another great morning on Pohnpei.

August - Phuket - It's all over

Singapore for seven days and Thailand for 18. Seems like a lifetime ago. We had a great time but the travel home (30 hours) is a killer. Up early in Phuket, flight to Singapore, flight to Manila, flight to Guam and then over to Pohnpei. Nearly need a hotel to get over the journey.

Midnight in Manila and the kids are still awake but starting to fade.

The next holiday is a little while off thankfully.

August - Phuket - Hotel

We stayed at the Sunwing Resort in Kamala. It is designed very much with kids in mind with seven pools so you can attempt to move away from the annoying ones I think. The rooms were great, food was great and it was right on the beach. Good choice by Nic.

One of the purchases of the trip was a new Digital SLR camera. It takes really awesome pics and great action shots. I needed to do a test run and Jaxon was only too happy to be given permission to jump up and down on Mummy and Daddys bed.

We visited the pools every day. Jaxon and Indi love swimming so this was a great way to help them wear themselves out.

One of our games was to line up some of the kids toys and blast them with a water squirter.

Water squirter in action.

Happy to pose for a photo taken with the new camera.

All of the pools had a really shallow part so the kids could play unassisted for all long as they wanted. NB: Read for a long as it took Mum and Dad to have some semi down time.

Indi was a pretty good shot with the water squirter; much to Jaxon's disgust.

On the grass before the beach was a little massage, braiding and pedicure hut. I had heaps of massages, and the girls enjoyed a fair amount of pampering as well.

Indi did a great job of keeping still for one and a half hours to get her hair braided. Never thought it was possible.

The three generations all enjoying life in Kamala.

Sometimes kids can't sit still enough for a photo. What happened to that little angel that sat still for so long to get her hair braided.

The reason we took the posting to Pohnpei. Family time.

One night they had a 'kids disco'. Granddad couldn't resist getting up to dance for the 'Chicken Dance'.

Face painting at the 'Kids Club' was a hit. Don't mind this photo either.

August - Phuket - Patong and Kamala

While we were in Phuket we stayed in Kamala which is about a 15 minute Tuk Tuk ride out of the main tourist strip of Patong. The location of the hotel gave us the option of having a quiet time in the hotel and surrounding bars/restaurants or heading into the hussle and bussle of Patong.

There are so many things to do in Thailand it is incredible (maybe I have been on Pohnpei too long). Nic and Chris decided to let fish eat all the dead skin off of their feed. Apparently this is all the rage. Going by the looks on their faces it wasn't all beer and skittles however Nic had a beer to dull the sensation.

Get to work you littles fishes.

Our first of many Tuk Tuk rides. The kids loved them. Especially the ones with the big speakers playing loud music all the way home.

Patong Beach. Kids and sand - what can I say.

A very brave Mummy taking an over confident Jaxon into the open ocean. The waves did their job and brought him down a peg or two. A new found respect for the power of water was realised. Yep it's a bit different to the pool in Pohnpei little man.

Kamala Beach. We were lucky to have our hotel right on the beach at Kamala. So in between our treks around Phuket the kids and Grandparents got to play in the sand.

Good job Granddad, you keep the kids entertained, Nana and I will stay here and make sure no one takes our seats.

Loving life in Pohpei.

Probably my favourite photo of the entire holiday. Might get this one on a print and up on the wall.

I had to try this 'fish thing' after hearing Nic and Chris talk about it so much. It was different to what I imagined, kind of like a pins and needles sensation. Indi had a go for a little while, Jaxon wouldn't even put his feet in the water.

August - Phuket - Thai Cooking Class

Another of the 'to-do' items for Nic in Thailand was a Thai Cooking Class. After a bit of research after we arrived Nic booked into a five hour course. The course included a visit to a local market to choose fresh veges.

I can't imagine what Nic was doing here that deserved an applause. It doesn't look that hard to me.....

The class cooked and then ate two full Thai meals. Needless to say Nic didn't eat dinner that night. I'm still waiting to see if the money invested was worth it. Fresh veges and Pohnpei doesn't always go together. No doubt there will be a champion Thai meal served up soon.

August - Phuket - Elephant Rides

We spent one of our days on a tour around Phuket Island taking in as many attractions as we could. It was a longish day but well worth it. The kids had a blast and still talk about riding the elephants.

First stop was the monkey show. I wouldn't want to be one of these monkeys is all I can say.

Riding bike monkeys, swimming monkeys, climbing monkeys, counting monkeys, this place had it all.

A little while later we ticked off our Thailand 'must do' item - Elephant riding. We were asked at the beginning of the ride if we wanted photos taken with the elephants. At about $40 bucks we declined. As soon as we were out of sight of the 'bosses' our elephant driver turned around and asked us if we would like him to take a few photos of us with our own camera. You little beauty. We gave him $5 and he was more than happy. Obviously a scam but $5 is better than $40.

Sliding out of the seat and sitting behind the elephants ears is a pretty cool thing to be able to do.

I'm not sure it Indi was totally convinced that riding an elephant was a safe thing to do. It was the longest period she was quiet for the entire holiday.

Great family pic.

Definately something that we had talked about doing since we starting planning the holiday.

Jaxon and I got the only female elephant driver. Supposedly females are a pretty rare entity in this job so we were lucky.

After the ride we fed the baby elephants. There was no one else in line so the trainers let Jaxon and Indi sit on them for a photo. Very cool.