Skyping The Kids

One of the things I had set up before leaving was a webcam for the main PC at home so I could "skype" the girls when I came to the UAE.

Well, Skype worked an absolute treat before I left... skyping the main PC from the lounge room with my laptop worked great and we installed webcams at both mine and Niki's parents places as well. Skyping them worked fine as well.

But over here, sharing one internet connection with a multitude of hotel rooms means that bandwidth is an issue. Sometimes its just slow to bring up normal web pages let alone using Skype. But we persist and thru the many drop outs and freezes, it really has been helpful in helping both me and the girls at home stay in touch. I cannot imagine being here without it... there would be alot more tears at both ends!

The picture quality is fair to good depending on the connection but the best bit is being able to take happy snaps of Niki and the girls whilst chatting to me like these ones below :

On The Painting Desk - Khemri Done

Have finished my Khemri Blood Bowl team... even played a match with them today (and won!).

Quite happy with the way they turned out... the pinning of the pieces was extraordinary in that each miniture was actually 8 seperate bits (except the Mummies which were a full casting).

Very fiddly to put together, was really put off doing it in the first place because of it, but now that they're done, I am happy with the look of the team!

Khemri Mummies

2 Blitz-Ra's and 2 Thro-Ra's... really happy with the eyes on these guys

The Skeletons... differing helmets are a nice touch.

Team Shot!

All up, this has taken me about 6 weeks to do, but I do paint teams in a sporadic fashion... 15mins here, an hour here etc... the pinning though took more than the painting!

Castaway Island Holiday!

Well, it was a great week. We came, we lazed, we lounged and we ate and drank. None of us wore shoes whilst we were there and "evening wear" was shorts and t-shirts and swimmers.

The weather was great, sunny in the mornings, very hot by midday and then cooling down through the afternoon so that come by dinner time, it was very comfortable to eat outside.

Castaway Island was brilliant in the sense that there were only 60 odd bures but about 130 staff on the island at any one time. There are 160 employees in all, but they have a 12 days on, 3 days off rotation. This meant that there were no hassles, always someone within "bula!" distance to talk to and the whole vibe of the place was peaceful.

Speaking of the staff, they were excellent - always relaxed, happy to chat, enthused that you were having a good time and all in all, I think the most hospitable people we have met.

Food was excellent... we took on the meal plan which meant we only had to pay extra for alcohol and drinks for the kids outside of fruit juice. The breakfasts, lunches and the dinners were therefore simply walk in, find a table, order or go to the buffet and then sign off that you were there and your drinks and go... it was very well organised, and the food itself was fantastically presented and tasted great - particularly the seafood.

For the girls, they had a great time and because it was a family orientated resort, the girls developed good friendships with the other resort kids and for a change the bulk of the kids were 6-12yr old girls rather than the usual 13-14yr old boys reeking havoc that we have struck of late. On top of that, the island staff ran a Kids Club which meant that there were plenty of scheduled activities during the days and at night all the kids were kept busy whilst adults could have dinner to themselves between 6:30 and 9:00pm.

So while we dined in the restaurant, the kids went to bonfires, played games, learnt Fijian dances etc.

And plenty of activities for everyone too... we had free use of snorkel gear, kayaks and catamarans. We also got a free tour of the reef via a glass bottom boat - which Brookie loved - on the Thursday Kate and I went Parasailing. Kate went tandem with one of her island friends, so it was great that she did this without me. It was a big deal for her.

The bure's were great. They were airy and air conditioned and right on the water.

I am rambling a bit... can't say enough of the place and we'll definitely be going back.

Our welcome to the island... this was taken as our launch hit the beach. No wharf on Castaway, you literally hit the sand!

Our island bure... from the front.

The view from the bure's verandah. Spectacular!

Yours truly working hard! ;)

Brooke and Kate in the water out the front of our bure...

Sunset off the balcony of the islands restaurant...

Kate and Brooke (who at this stage had their hair braided) at the Kids Klub with one of the staff Alesi.

The girls got to perform at the "Lovo Night" which was the night of Fijian dancing and food... The staff put on a cocktail party complete with Kava for the adults and then the kids who had rehearsed all day were part of the show of traditional dancing and singing.

Here we are on that same day watching Kime prepare the "lovo" which is an underground earthen pit of hot rocks and banana leaves where the food is cooked all day. There was enough food here to feed the entire island!

Kate coming into land during her parasail... she is the front set of legs!

Me being kitted up to go parasailing. The very technical instructions were "sit down and dont pull the ropes until you come into land".

This shot is special because it was taken on the launch back to the cruise ship to take us home. Aseri here was the leader of the Kids Klub and she was on board to take the tickets and first Brooke and then Kate started to cry because they were going home. Soon Aseri was crying as well and you know the kids have had a good time when they burst into emotion as you pull away....

Dancing in Kuala Lumpur

Rather than retelling the stories I have heard from the girls this morning, pics are probably the best way to go...

So here is their KL trip!! The premise of the trip was this: A cultural exchange between Australia and Malaysia meant that there were opportunities for dancers to go to Kuala Lumpur to perform as part of "Australia Week". They were performing at Shopping Centres mainly, the water theme park show was cancelled during the trip but was replaced with two shows at The Pavilion which apparently is a massive (12 stories) shopping centre that has only been open for a short time. The troupe from Westside Performing Arts had the honour of being the first performers to be on stage at The Pavilion. In between, the girls got to see the sites, experience a new culture and be tourists themselves. They have had a wonderful time and I am so glad we took the chance to send Kate for the dancing and Brooke for the fun of it.

Here's just some of the over 200 pics and vids!

Group shot at Sydney Airport. The team looking all red in their uniforms.

Niki was amazed that everywhere they went locals wanted to have their photo taken with the girls. Kate & Brooke and the other young ones were particularly in demand.

Kate & Brooke out the front of a mosque on day 1 during their city tour.

Niki and the girls get a shot of themselves in front of the Petronas Towers... they didnt get a chance to go up during the trip.

Group shot before the first show. Kate is front row right with flag, Brooke is the munchkin standing with the bigger girls.

Now Brooke wasn't actually a part of the show. Niki brought her along just for the experience. But she was made very much a part of the group and did appear on stage at a couple of shows at the smaller centres. Here, she gets some of that experience with having to carry the flags ;)
Kate backstage for Show 1 pumped and ready to go!

And here is Brooke in an impromptu performance on stage... she came out with the singers at the begininning holding the flag... she didn't have a costume, so they snagged an Aussie t-shirt! No rehearsal, out you go!

After the first show... the stuffed Koala mascot and the girls pose for photos. This became a normal thing and soon locals were getting their kids into the shots as well.

The Pavilion. Niki takes a shot from one of the balconies down to where the girls would dance. That grey area is sponsored by Hewlett Packard and the dancers, and in particular the singers had to work HP into the lyrics... even the lead singer had to sing with a HP portable in his hands! You have to be good to the sponsors!! In addition, The Pavilion was a huge space and the crowds were around the balconies in big numbers.


On stage during the Pavilion shows... Kate is on the left



The opening number of the Pavilion show... Kate is in the 2nd row from the right in the foreground in blue...



The later show again at the Pavilion... Kate is on the left in the front. She gets a bit obscured at times by the pole though.

Afterwards the crowds once again wanted their shots with the little girls being in big demand. Here Kate poses with one of her fans ;)

Brookie also had her fans! This guy was just one of many people who found Brooke adorable... she was apparently a bit taken back by all the attention, but soon was lapping it up!

This is a sample of what the crowds were like after a show... heaps of people, lots of cameras. Niki was amazed at that. In addition, KL is a city of extremely friendly and tolerant people. There are Indians, Malays and Chinese with all their differing religions and degrees of belief. There are full on Buddist and Hindu monks and Islamic people in full Muslim dress (note the woman in the bhurka (sp?) in this shot) all the way through to people of those faiths who have a more western lifestyle. The point is that all these people of races and religions mix freely and mix well. There is something that can be said about Australia in that...

Of course after the shows there were the parties! The Pavilion in particular put on KFC and Pizza for the kids. People from the management came down and thanked the girls for their shows and were very happy with the result. I am sure HP was happy too! ;)
And of course, the mums who went as well! Niki had a great time and enjoyed herself too!

And in between the shows, there was the shopping... KL is filled with massive shopping centres so they were put to good use. Here are the girls as they're about to hit the tiles so to speak!

In addition to the shopping, the girls got to see some of the more historical sites... Here they're at the Batu Caves which is a series of caves atop a large set of stairs and there is a temple inside.

A closer look at the statue and the imposing stair case!


The temple inside the caves... one of the people was singing their prayers. Very peaceful.

And what trip to SE Asia would be complete without some snakes! The look on Kate's face is priceless!


The motto the girls adopted was "try something different for Daddy"... well they did!


And some Monkey business!

Home! The last shot... this is when they landed this morning after their overnight flight. Brooke slept, but Kate actually slept walked around the plane at around 4am and didn't rest after that... apparently she went all the way down to Business Class from the back of the plane!!

Gold Coast - The Family Stuff

So after the massive day at Wet N Wild, we had dinner with Mum & Dad, my great Aunt & Uncle Gladys & Jack and my Pop.

(l-r) Gladys, Mum, Kate, Me, Pop, Dad, Jack, Brooke

Pop is 83 years old and still goes strong. He walks every day around the beach and we experienced that first hand when he turned up at the hotel at 5am Saturday and I took the girls along with Pop and Dad for his daily walk... bloody long way! When we got back at about 6:30am, the girls and I went back to bed for a good 2 hours!

Saturday was spent at the pool and at the beach. The weather was fantastic and we had a great day. Kate, buoyed by her time in the wave pool went out up to her chest in the waves with me and Brookie for the first time went beyond her ankles in the water. It was a great day:

Niki & The Girls at Greenmount

After the pool and beach, we went out for dinner to Felini's in the Mirage Resort complex with my Nan and my Aunt Jan... the girls were excited as we had booked a limo for the occasion. They were very excited as you can see:


The dinner itself was great. The waiter was a bit snooty - particularly as we had the "audacity" to bring children to a fancy restaurant, but the girls were impeccably well behaved.

Dinner @ Felini's

As you can see, Brookie was enjoying being at the head of the table!

Sunday we had lunch with my Nan again, but this time there were 16 of us all up as Nan's sister (Aunty Nancy - who's 87 and deaf as a post), Mum's cousins and Nan's neighbours and friends all piled into Oskars at Broadbeach.

The lunch was huge and desert was a Bomb Alaska (sp?). Nan seemed to have a good time, there were two red wine spills (none from Niki or the girls!), a girl in a skimpy bikini played badminton on the beach for a good 2 hours for entertainment and the food was excellent.

Nan & The Girls

Nan enjoys her Birthday cake / Bomb Alaska

And thats about it! We didnt eat much for dinner... the girls were hungry so we went out for pizza which went largely uneaten, we went back to the hotel, packed and then got up early Monday for the flight home.

We flew back on JetStar which I thought was very good. It makes you realise how tired the inside of a Qantas plane is in comparison to JetStar's relatively newer fitout. The only hiccup home was getting the car out of the Long Term Carpark at Sydney Airport after I had lost the ticket, but that was about it!

A very good weekend for the family!

Puzzle Girl

My mum & dad gave Brooke a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle for her 6th birthday last March. It was a bit of a daunting task for a little girl, but she had a crack... then put it away.... had another crack and put it away again.

And now, she's doing it.

6 years old, she sits on the table with the pieces spread out around her and she's doing it by herself and I reckon she's not quite halfway through.

She's made that much progress probably over the past week as you can see below, but she really is amazing at it.

I sat down with her last night and was gazing at the mass of pieces with my eyes glazed over... we were working on one corner of the puzzle which was a primarily blue and white section.

I'm looking for the pieces that would go in there and was struggling to find them in the jumble and yet Brooke's not only finding them, she's placing them.

Then amazingly she grabs a greeny-black bit straight off the pile, turns 90 degrees and puts it down in the correct slot! I looked at her and she simply said "that bit goes there."

She's a bit freaky our Brooke... we're calling her Puzzle Girl with the "Freaky Puzzle Eyes"...

I guess we all have our super powers!