(while eating breakfast)
RJ: (in bizarre scientist voice) I have created an amazing invention.
Dad: What’s that?
RJ: CHEEECKEN LEEPS!
Dad: Chicken lips?
RJ: YEEEES. Cheecken leeeps!
Dad: Okay. So what are chicken lips good for?
RJ: Cheeckens around the world are happy…
Because now…
They can eat…
SANDWICHES!!!!Dad: Fantastic!
RJ: Also! Now they say, “Banana chip!” all the time.
Baaaanaaaanaaaa CHIP!
We’re back from our awesome holiday and the good news is: no monkey bites or life-threatening illnesses!
While we’re getting those pictures sorted out, here’s everything else we got up to during April: our neighbours visited with their new baby, we played real video games for the first time, we took some friends ice skating, we dyed some eggs for Easter and we also noticed that a movie character has been taking fashion tips from… Dad?
Our neighbour's mummy bobtail lizard had babies and they were super cute!
Dad: (climbing up a ladder to inspect our roof cavity) Okay, if I’m not back in an hour send in some help!
RJ: You wont be back in an hour. You’re going to die in there.
Dad: What!?
RJ: Oh yeah. Definitely going to die. There’ll be thousands of rats and they’ll all bite you and you’ll die from bleeding.
Dad: Well, make sure you warn the next person who comes up here then.
RJ: It’s a baaad idea, Dad. There’s no hope for you.
(Twenty minutes later)
LR: Are you coming out now, Dad?
Dad: Yep! The only way out is to slide backwards on my stomach. Can you see my feet yet?
LR: Yeah, they’re not near the ladder though.
Dad: I’m nearly out.
LR: Now you’re okay… but…
Dad: But what?
LR: You look… gross… covered in dirt and dust and fluff… Like you were attacked by rats or something!
Read on to find out about our exciting adventures with dangerous oversized animals at the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple at Lake Beratan. We get drenched by a massive tropical thunderstorm, and are amused/delighted/revolted by some hot beverages. Finally we end up having a meal at a great little place on the coast.
Mom leads the kids off to the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple!
Found it!
But it's guarded by lions... hungry lions... Careful M!
Look out, LR!
We'll ride the magic giant fish off to safety!
The sign said, "Beware of Giant Eagles", but did they listen? Oh nooooooo.... "No giant eagles around here," they said. Here's your freaken giant eagle, buddy.
"Spin us, Uncle Paul! As fast as you can!!!" ... The kids learned a valuable lesson that day.
Mom and P take M and RJ on a WILD ride on the swing.
On the way back down the mountain, we ran into our first tropical thunderstorm.
Rice paddies and farms on the side of the mountain.
On the way back to the villa, we stopped by this nice little coffee shack and tried their various coffees and teas, as well as the infamous, "Poo Coffee."
Poppa is awfully suspicious. In the background, you can see a big poster describing the process of feeding coffee berries to the lewaks, collecting their valuable coffee-bean-caffinated turds, and the washing that takes place before roasting and grinding the beans. They did mention washing the beans, didn't they? Lots and lots of washing?
No RJ! Don't eat that bit!!! Ha ha... Actually, the hot chocolate made from their own cocao beans was really fantastic.
Mom refused to try the crappy coffee, but did give the lemon tea a go... and it was actually great stuff. The kids loved it too.
After a long day, we went to the Potato Head Club to relax and have a great dinner. The place was extravagant, decadent and completely over the top... and we loved it. Aunty Bron, Uncle Troy and Poppa enjoy a drink while trying to get Shazam working on their phones.
Aunty Carrie, Grammy and Uncle Paul sit down for a cup of tea... Hang on a second, that's not tea in that pot!
Mom watched whle the kids had a brilliant time swimming and jumping around in the pool.
We even enjoyed a tiny, 2 minute sunset. There was so much cloud that the sky didn't really light up.
The kids kept swimming and playing into the night while our dinner was prepared.
Sophie checks out the menu... Yep, just about everything on there looks delicious.
Uncle Paul waits for Auntie Carrie at the bar... The place felt like a scene from a movie.
After dinner, LR and the other kids danced on the grass to the loud, thumping music, while Dad cheered them on.
PA. prepares to launch her sky-shooting glowie -- a tiny light on a pair of wings.
Our trip was filled with new experiences with a lot of things that we’d never get the chance to do back in Perth. We stopped by a lodge where they take retired elephants and spoil them by feeding them melons all day (in exchange for carrying tourists on short walks through jungle and rice paddies). They had a couple of young orangutans who we were allowed to play with, as well as an albino python that RJ thought would make a terrific pet. Finally, we had a fantastic meal at a great, but confusing restaurant motorcycle shop skate shop place called, “Deus Ex Machina”.
Hungry elephants LOVE to eat melons. If you're not careful, they'll even stop along the track to stomp on a jackfruit and eat that too!
In April of 2011, we embarked on a terrific adventure to the island of Bali, in Indonesia. It is actually closer to Perth than the other capital cities within Australia, so it’s a popular holiday destination for Western Australians… which is one of the reasons we’ve been hesitant to go.
After a tiny 3 hour flight, we met Poppa, Grammy, the cousins (P. and M., Auntie Bron and Uncle Troy), our aunt and uncle from the US (Carrie and Paul), and finally, our second cousin Sophie and spent a week there staying at an incredible, luxurious villa (Puri Angsa, in Canggu, Bali) together.
It really was like staying in paradise, with each family having their own cottage or series of rooms, most of them directly overlooking the pool. The villa even had their own pet monkeys, which conveniently avoided any potential ‘Enchanted Monkey Forest‘ disasters that we had worried about.
We arrived at our gate with plenty of time to spare and some amazing colours in the sky.
We have a holiday coming up, in which we’ll be travelling overseas to spend some time on a tropical island. As part of our preparation, and to generate some excitement in the kids, Mom was reading through some of the possible destinations, an elephant park, a sea turtle rescue habitat, the Enchanted Monkey Forest…
Whoah! Everyone’s eyes lit up. A monkey forest? And not just any boring monkey forest… an ENCHANTED Monkey Forest! That sounded awesome!
Visions of tree houses and hundreds of friendly monkeys chattering away filled our heads. They’d do tricks for us, we’d clap and laugh; they’d dance for treats. A hat salesman would offer a dazzling array of coloured caps for just fifty cents each beneath a tree full of becapped monkeys. The kids might find a very friendly one and carry it to us, begging to bring it home as a pet. Perhaps a man with a yellow hat would wave, ‘Hello’. It just sounded magical…
A few webby clicks later later, reality had set in. The truth, as it turns out, is not as wonderful, full of glitter and simian camaraderie as our imaginations would have us believe.
The monkey forest is infested with Balinese long tailed macaques. Generally, they keep to themselves and the temple area. Although from time to time, much like hordes of school kids descending on the mall after school, bands of them will get together and raid nearby villages.
Now despite the fact that there are signs up, saying “Do not feed the monkeys”, there is usually someone nearby selling bananas (I presume he’s equipped with an electric monkey prod, monkey mace or a full suit of medieval armour). Feeding the monkeys, however, is not recommended. Nor is carrying food, shiny objects, or anything of any sort potentially appealing to a monkey, because the large macaques have no compunction against climbing people and beating them over the head, snarling ferociously, and brutally tearing whatever objects they might have on them away. Finally, monkeys can be infected by rabies and Hepatitis C, so any bites, scratches or broken skin are a serious infection risk. Monkey business is surprisingly serious stuff.
A useful guide to surviving the monkey forest provides these confidence inspiring tips:
This information was hammered home when we talked to a friend of ours who was actually bitten by a monkey while visiting. According to her, it was about as much fun as it sounds, i.e. about as much fun as a barrel full of rabid macaques.
So, with enthusiasm blunted and hopes singed, it looks like we’ll be giving the monkey forest a miss this time around. My dreams of driving across the countryside in a big rig with a new found monkey pal will have to be set aside. Fortunately, there are plenty of other exciting destinations on the island.
And not to fear, we wont be bored — this year there’s a new bit of tropical excitement infesting the Balinesian isle. Toxic caterpillars! Apparently plagues of horrible wriggly little caterpillars have been sweeping across the island, leaving the locals with itchy, red rashes when they come into contact with uncovered skin.
Tropical paradise, here we come!
RJ: Watch out, Dad. They’re all robots now.
Dad: Who’s that?
RJ: The spiders and insects… Even the scorpions. They’ve all been replaced by robots.
Dad: Let me guess. The bad guys have a plan to take over the world?
RJ: Yes, and it starts by replacing all the venomous creatures with robots.
RJ: … but not the lizards. They’re still on our side.
On the weekend, we all drove up to Gingin to help with the second stage of winemaking. The first stage, picking the grapes and first pressing, was already done a couple of weeks ago; it was time for the second pressing and getting the wine into vats for fermentation. We also spent time working on LR’s latest project, “The Museum of the Universes of Science” — a showcase for all the amazing animals, bones, plants and rocks that we discover up there.
Obviously, winemaking is a very serious business!
While we were up at Gingin helping with the yearly wine making, a few cute little arachnids happily made their way across the floor to say, ‘Hi‘. Of course, the kids spotted them before anyone else. At first, we thought one of them had been crushed, but it turns out they are just deceptive little creatures and relish disguising themselves in places where they have the opportunity to attack your toes.
We found a suitable plastic container (one with multiple latches, locks, a secondary containment unit and an airlock) and collected them up so we could have a closer look.
Meet "Stingo", a (hopefully temporary) new addition to our family. We think he is a "Lychas spinatus spinatus", but we haven't identified him properly yet. A lot of people just seem to call them "Little Marbled Scorpions".
Unlike our last pet from Gingin (Mr. Bitey), these guys don’t have a disturbing taste for meat (raw, cooked or still attached to your body). They also don’t inspire the same deep, visceral fear that a vividly-coloured, 8 inch venomous predator with the alarming ability to scale any surface at surprisingly high speeds does… And the legs…. Oh god, so many legs…
We did a little research and discovered that they are terrific for getting rid of garden pests! Amazingly, they are happy to feast on slaters (pill bugs), which our garden beds are always crawling with.
Of course, the inevitable question came from RJ. “I can keep these as pets, right? Forever?”
…
…
…
Four hours later, the car was packed and we were driving home to Perth. As I drove, I had visions of our news friends escaping… Our first clue being a yelp from the dog, then yells from the kids, “The scorpions are out!!!”, followed by a lovely evening by the side of the road unpacking our gear and madly stomping around on the ground, eventually ending with us hitching a ride back, our car abandoned on the side of the road with a rough sign in the window, “Danger!!! SCORPIONS!!!!”
Fortunately, we made it home without a problem.
So… We’ve adopted three “Little Marbled Scorpions” for at least a week, just to see how they do. RJ can be responsible for finding food for them, and he’s already named them: “Fango”, “Stingo” and “Pinchers”. Unfortunately, they are venomous.
We wont be bringing them out for cuddles or playtime, but we have Bob for that.
