Warrnambool in winter

A winter weekend in Warrnambool might seem a strange choice for tropical heat lovers like us, considering the Antarctic winds that buffer this booming town in Victoria’s southwest. But on Tash’s advice, we packed raincoats, gloves and boots and braved the elements for a weekend away.

The tourist brochures say Warrnambool is 3 hr and 15 min drive from Melbourne, but with a 3-and-a-half-year-old in tow and a partner with a penchant for op shops, our trip took closer to 5 hours.

At our first stop we enjoyed excellent coffee and cakes at the Winchelsea Larder; I was only sorry we weren’t there at lunchtime for what looked like a great Ploughman’s Platter (AUD$12.90), plus kid’s menu version ($5.30); a genuinely kid-friendly venue with fabulous food and produce.

We lingered longer in Colac, first at the adventure playground situated on the edge of the lovely Botanic Gardens overlooking Lake Colac (follow the signs from the highway down Queen St and turn right into Fyans St; the playground is opposite the caravan park). The park has everything from a wheelchair-accessible swing to an old-school roundabout and half-dome climbing frame. Our personal favourite was the boat on a spring overlooking the lake, which fitted all three of us.

We had lunch at the Botanic Cafe, situated at the opposite end of Fyans St from the playground, also overlooking Lake Colac. Kid-friendly, good value and picturesque location.

Then it was on to Warrnambool, where we stayed with our friends Tam and Bill in a house overlooking the Hopkins River. It was raining when we arrived but as soon as it cleared, we headed to nearby Logan’s Beach for some whale watching. We got lucky: the mother and calf hanging out in the area showed their heads and tails, and at least one of them was blowing while we watched. It turned out to be the one and only time we saw whales in three visits to the viewing platform. Then again, Tash was more entertained playing with Tam’s “binnochios” (binnoculars) than she was by the distant whales.

Sunday, on Bill’s advice, we headed for Tower Hill Reserve, a lush wildlife sanctuary inside a dormant volcano that collapsed in on itself some 30,000 years ago. We parked by the Visitor Centre and within moments we were getting up close and personal with a couple friendly emus, and spied four koalas in nearby trees. We also saw black swans by the lake and a kangaroo in the wetlands area.

Tower Hill has a fascinating history. Despite being declared Victoria’s first national park in 1892, the area had been virtually clear-felled by the 1930s. Restoration work begun in the 1960s, based on a detailed painting of the Tower Hill in 1855 by Victorian artist Eugene Von Guerard. As the In The Artist’s Footsteps website notes, “It is the classic example of where a painting, by a realist artist, at a time when photography was in its infancy, can be a very valuable conservation resource.” These days the conservation efforts are so effective that koalas have to be periodically relocated from the area to prevent them from taking over.

From Tower Hill we drove to Port Fairy and would have meandered longer around this pretty town except that the port area was closed off for a bicycle race. We opted instead for lunch at Time & Tide, as recommended by Tam, a cafe with gorgeous sea views and even more gorgeous cakes. My smoked salmon fritta was truly delectable and the coffee good, too. No kids menu but they were able to rustle up a kid-friendly dish or two ($4.50), and Tash’s hot chocolate came out with a smiley face sketched in chocolate syrup. The gallery setting means it’s better suited to immobile babies than active toddlers. The turn off to Time & Tide is after the Catholic church and just before the water tower; follow the signs down the unsealed road to the beach.

Rain ruined our plans to build sand castles on the beach out front of the cafe. Instead we drove back to Warrnambool, put on our raincoats and went out to play at the Lake Pertobe Adventure Playground. The playground is a fabulous feat of engineering, built on a former swamp whose “pestiferous exhalations” were the subject of written complaints as early as 1879. (The name ‘Warrnambool’ allegedly derives from a Kuurn Kopan Noot Aboriginal term, meaning ‘two swamps’). Nowadays the park is 20 hectares of lakes, lawn and playgrounds and home to abundant bird life.

Having become playground aficionados since the birth of our daughter, I reckon Lake Pertobe is one of our best finds, not least of all because it caters for adults as well as kids: the highlight for all 3 of us were the flying foxes, one for under-12s and another for over-12s. (We were having too much fun to take photos, but there are some here). To find the flying fox station, head right from the main car-park past the maze.

What worked for us over our weekend in Warrnambool was to come equipped for inclement weather, make the most of fine spells to get out and about, and not to be deterred by a shower or two. We had a busy, fun time and I felt we’d only scratched the surface in terms of what the region has to offer.

Also worth noting for the trip back is the castle-like Apex Playground in Terang, which has low doorways hazardous to unsuspecting adults and was a bit slippery in the wet, but is beautifully located overlooking the croquet club and has everything a would-be princess needs to fire her imagination.

Other recommended food stops are the Cobb Loaf Cafe in Camperdown, and Cafe Gravity in Colac (impressive kids’ menu with $7 dishes), both on the main street/highway on the right side heading towards Melbourne.

Crocodile shows

Today we went to a crocodile show at the Melbourne Zoo called Crocodilia. Almost five months ago to the day, we went to a crocodile show at the Phuket Zoo in Thailand. Can you spot the differences?

I know, I know, it’s easy to see: at the Melbourne Zoo, the keeper is handling a juvenile American Alligator, whilst in Phuket, the keeper is handling a full-grown Asian crocodile.

Seriously though, there were also differences in what we learned at the respective shows.

At Melbourne Zoo, we learned that crocodilia have evolved with five key characteristics that have enabled them to survive for more than 2 million years: the ability to be submerged but breathe above the water; the capacity to draw energy from the sun through their backs; a rudder-like tail that propels them through the water; estivation, or the ability to hibernate during hot, dry times of food scarcity and re-emerge once the rains come; and being communicate with their young, even whilst the babies are still inside the eggs. A mother crocodile may use her teeth to help a baby having trouble breaking out of its egg.

In the first photo, Tash can be seen far right standing next to the zookeeper and holding a megaphone to ‘demonstrate’ a baby crocodile communicating with her mother. And because she was part of the show, she got to pat the American Alligator afterwards [photo 3].

At Phuket Zoo, we learned sometimes a crocodile will simply not be roused, no matter how many times it is poked, prodded and dragged by the tail [photo 4] — and even when someone lies on top of it [photo 3].

The Crocodilia show is part of Melbourne Zoo’s school holiday program and is on at 11am and 1pm in the marquee next to the Carousel park.

The Crocodile Show at Phuket Zoo is a feature attraction and can be seen at various times throughout the day.

Angkor with children

Exploring the temples of Angkor with young children can be challenging. But it’s also rewarding to see these wonders through your child’s eyes, as Angela Savage reveals.

I first visited Siem Reap and the surrounding temples in 1992. Back then, the United Nations was running Cambodia, civil war was still raging in the countryside, and there was just me and my partner—literally. We barely saw another living soul.

Sixteen years later, we returned with our nearly-three-year-old daughter to a town that had changed so much it was unrecognisable, and temples crowded with foreign tourists. It was a very different experience but equally worthwhile.

The first thing that struck me about visiting Angkor with our daughter was that what excited us was rarely the same as what excited her. Exploring the jungle-covered ruins of Ta Phrom might be fun, but what really had her riveted were the tiny frogs and giant snails that shared the stones with her (we were warned against touching the snails as they can cause a rash).

While she showed mild interest in the carvings of the apsaras at Angkor Thom, she was thrilled by the group of apsara dancers in traditional costume who posed for photos with her for a mere $1 donation.

Another friend’s kids most enjoyed the grassy expanse in front of the Terrace of the Elephants, and watching the real elephants ferry the tourists around Angkor Wat. The horses, too, are popular with the kids.

But visiting the temples themselves can be boring, if not gruelling for a toddler. So here are a few tips, gleaned from a number of families, for making the trip as enjoyable as possible for everyone.

1      If your back is up to it, consider carrying your child in a baby/toddler backpack. If you live in Phnom Penh and don’t have your own, someone on the Yahoo group Cambodia Parent Network might lend you one. Contact cambodiaparentnetwork@yahoogroups.com

2      If your toddler is too heavy or active to be carried, make sure they have decent walking shoes that don’t cause blisters (seems like a no-brainer, but we got caught out on this one).

3      Be realistic about what you can achieve: visiting 2 or 3 temples is probably enough for one day.

4      Hire a guide: in kid-friendly Cambodia, a good guide will be sensitive to kids’ needs, such as pointing out all the fantastic animals to be seen on the bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat and the Bayon. Ours even carried our daughter up the steeper staircases so we could all enjoy the view.

5      Stay at a hotel with a pool and make the most of it to take time-out between tours.

Some midrange, kid-friendly hotels recommended by resident expats are the Auberge Mont Royal d’Angkor, the Borann l’Auberge des Temples and the Pavilion d’Indochine. All have pools, gardens and kid-friendly touches. The Majestic Angkor was also recommended for older children (pool but no garden).

If you really want to enjoy the temples at your own pace, consider travelling with another family or other adults and taking turns at childcare and temple viewing.

That said, seeing the temples through the eyes of a child can be an enriching experience. While I remember the breath-taking grandeur of the temples on our 1992 visit, travelling with my daughter made me appreciate the details.

Amongst our friends, the jungle temple of Ta Phrom seems to be the biggest hit with the kids. Visiting early around 8 or 8.30am will get you there ahead of the tour buses.

In Siem Reap, the Butterflies Garden Restaurant is worth a visit. If the butterflies don’t keep the kids occupied, chances are the ponds, bench swing and garden will.

There’s plenty for kids to see at the enclosed Night Market, too, and the juggling cocktail barmen at the fabulous Island Bar in the middle should keep them distracted long enough for you to enjoy a cool drink.

Also recommended are the traditional dance shows. The Apsara Theatre (also referred to as ‘Angkor Village’) on Wat Bo Road has a 6.30-8.00 pm dinner and show—free for toddlers—which our daughter found captivating.

This article was originally written for AsiaLIFE magazine.

Phuket

Last stop on our Asian adventure of 2008-09 was Phuket, Thailand’s most populous island and amongst its most popular with foreign tourists. I didn’t really warm to Phuket, and in a bizarre way I was grateful for that: it made it easier in the end to go home.

That said, it wasn’t all bad. We stayed at Kata Lucky Villa, which I’d happily recommend (the photos on the website don’t do it justice), and Kata beach was nicer than I’d expected. The sand was clean and soft, the water calm and clear, and the banana lounges only two-deep. We spent most mornings there, surrounded by Russians and Northern Europeans who, as Roo pointed out, must think it’s Paradise. There’s also a decent place to eat at the southern end of the beach called Kata Seafood, right next door to a bar built beneath a sacred tree.

We visited old Phuket town a couple of times. Established by Chinese traders and tin miners, and there are some well preserved shophouses and other buildings from the 1900s up to the 1960s, especially on and around Thalang Road. We had a great curry lunch at Aroon Restaurant at 124 Thalang Rd; and the shophouse at the China Inn Cafe (also selling textiles and antiques) at 20 Thalang Rd was particularly beautifully restored. We also visited the Phuket Provincial Hall, the setting for the US Embassy in the film The Killing Fields. There’s a terrific walking tour guide available here.

Phuket’s other prime attraction (at least in my opinion) is its drag shows, the most famous and polished of which is Simon Cabaret. The intrigue starts with a line on the brochure, “She is more of a man than you will ever be and even more of a woman”, and I’m willing to bet there are audience members who leave without realising all the performers began life as men.

Simon Cabaret is energetic and great fun, with over-the-top sets ranging from Ancient Egypt to Imperial China, Brazilian Carnivale to a faux rainforest. Numbers are sung in Chinese, Japanese and English — Dreamgirls providing rich material — though surprisingly little in Thai, apart from a traditional Issarn song that starts out as a slapstick by a large, mannish, middle-aged kratoey but ends as a rather poignant performance of ‘I Will Survive’. That performer danced among the audience and planted a sparkly kiss on Roo’s cheek, and for once Tash was not the main attraction in our family.

For her part, Tash was rivetted by the show and all the ‘princesses’. “That was really fun!” she said, as we piled into the minibus to go back to our hotel.

Tickets were 750 baht including door-to-door transport and we felt we got our money’s worth. The showgirls are happy to pose for photos outside after the show, but be aware you have to pay a 100 baht tip per performer in the photo. The most popular performers pull the lesser stars in so they can get tips, too, and it’s wise to be gracious about this. They’re only looking out for each other.

On our last night in Phuket, we watched a captivating sunset over the sea — a novelty for us who live on the southeast coast of Australia — then chanced upon the swanky Kata Beach Resort and Spa offering a buffet dinner in a garden overlooking the beach. This in itself was lovely, especially with Tash on her best behaviour. But we really hit the jackpot when the keyboard player/songstress duo pumping out the slow rock classics gave way to a group of performers I could only describe as ‘Simon Caberet rejects’.

The open-air show was cheesy beyond belief, with performers out of step and wardrobe malfunctions all over the place. But we all loved it! Tash alternated between emulating the dance moves of the ‘fairies’ — there was an excess of feathered wings, headdresses and tail pieces — and sitting at the foot of the stage, absolutely captivated.

It was the perfect last night.

Tash got to choose the destination for our last morning in Phuket, and we spent it at Phuket Zoo. It was pretty ordinary as far as zoos go, but four months later Tash still remembers the dodgy show we saw there and the man putting his head in the crocodile’s mouth.

I wonder how much else she remembers.

We flew home from Phuket via Sydney to Melbourne, arriving home just in time for a heatwave, followed a week or so later by terrible bushfires. Both Roo and I started new jobs within weeks, fortunate to find work and to find employers flexible enough to let us work four days per week, giving us both a day each at home with Tash.

It was never going to be easy settling back in at home. Our year in Cambodia saw the work/life balance tipped very much in favour of life. Back in Melbourne, the scales seem tipped to the other extreme.

But we are trying to keep alive the spirit of The Great Balancing Act by making the most of our days off with Tash and doing our best to get out on the weekends, too.

And so we’ll keep this blog going, with a shift in emphasis from Asia to Australia.

At least for now…

Krabi Town

With Krabi province offering such gorgeous beach destinations, some might not see a reason to venture into Krabi town except in transit to the coast. But there are at least five good reasons to make the trip.

1 Night Market – Top of the list is Krabi’s riverside food market, an area beside the port that fills up with rot ken – vendor carts – in the evenings, selling delicious local food. Atmospheric, highly affordable and packed with locals, the night market alone is worth the trip into Krabi town. In addition to all the vendor carts, there’s a fold-away restaurant, Nong Eang, where you can sit down to fish fried in garlic and pepper or duck soup with noodles, and cold Singha beer. Tash tucked into the local biryani. There’s also carts selling Issarn favourites such as som tam – spicy green papaya salad – dried beef and sticky rice, sweet roti or ‘Thai pancakes’ and every imaginable snack on a stick. There’s a toilet block (squat-style) costing 2 baht to use. The night market is on Thanon Khong Kha, a 5-7 minute walk towards the river from the main songtheaw stop on Thanon Maharat.

2. Neanderthal statues holding up traffic lights – What genius came up with the concept of cavemen carrying traffic lights? Krabi province is the sight of some ancient human remains, but putting that minor point of interest together with traffic control takes special talent. According to one website, “Traffic lights have never been fun, and they rarely qualify as points of interest. Krabi Town saw that as an opportunity.” I can’t believe we didn’t get a photo of them, but there’s one here on the aforementioned website. The traffic lights are on Thanon Maharat at the intersection with Thanon Sukhon.

3. Fortune telling machine, Vogue building – Vogue on Thanon Maharat is Krabi town’s only department store (not counting Tesco Lotus en route to the airport), a quaint collection of clothes and accessories stalls. But the real attraction is on the landing between the first and second floors: an old-fashioned, coin-operated fortune telling machine. Five baht will set the Wheel of Fortune turning; inside a rotund Buddha raises a branch above his head and brings it down on a numbered groove on the wheel. Your fortune is on the corresponding slip of paper in the numbered pigeon-holes in the base of the machine. You’ll need someone who reads Thai (or Chinese) to translate for you. If your fortune isn’t so lucky, roll the slip of paper into a strip and tie it around a tree to alleviate the bad luck. (I was advised to do this, though it didn’t prevent the accidents I’d been warned about: beware of the slipperiness of the freshly mopped tiled footpaths in Krabi town!).

4. Day/night market – on Thanon Sukhon, the main day/night market is a great place to shop for fresh food and to eat lunch or dinner. Try the fantastic geng pum pla, a spicy fish soup typical of the south, made with pumpkin, potato, pear-shaped eggplants and dried fish. The phad khi mao, a stir-fried dish of bamboo shoots and fish balls with chilli is mouth-numbingly good. The most authentic and exotic food in Krabi.

5. Toy shops, Thanon Maharat – one for the parents of infants and toddlers. Krabi’s main street hosts several toy shops with all the things you need to buy ten minutes of reading time. The large newsagency in the same strip has a fabulous selection of colouring-in books, too, some in English, most in Thai–not that it matters, if you’re just buying them for the pictures!

Islands of Krabi province – Part 2

There’s an unofficial hierarchy when it comes to island hopping tours in Krabi. First you do the ‘4 Islands’, followed by the Phi Phi Islands. Then if you still have time, throw in the Hong Islands or ‘5 Islands’ tour. I wonder if there’s a subtext in the tourist information: stay long enough and get rewarded with what is possibly the loveliest of all the island tours.

We returned to Barracuda Tours to cruise the ‘5 Islands’ by longtail boat. First stop, Koh Deng, is a rocky red outcrop where Roo snorkelled and Tash fed green, black and white striped fish from the prow of the boat, sitting with our otherwise purely decorative guide Em.

Next up was Pakbia Island where we had a swim and collected huge shells to decorate the sandcastle built by Canadian twins Roya and Yasmin, whom Tash had befriended on the boat. The twins’ parents Christina and Nadim were taking the girls on a year-long world tour. Watching them made me realise how much easier it is travelling: a) with two children; b) with eight-year-olds. I can’t remember the last time I got to read on the beach!

We stopped for lunch on Lading Island at a small idyllic bay called Paradise Beach where five Thai police were stationed to protect the resident swallows’ nests (a kilo of which fetches 100,000 baht on the export market). These were the most laid-back Thai cops I’ve ever met, which is not surprising as this must be the cushiest police posting in all of Thailand. There was just enough infrastructure on the island – rough-hewn wooden tables, benches and a huge swing – to indulge in the three most important traditional pastimes: eating, sleeping and sanuk (having fun).

Then it was on to the main attraction, Hong Island. Hong meaning ‘room’ in Thai refers to the lagoon in the middle of the island, accessible only at high tide through a narrow chasm. Inside the hong, surrounded on all sides by limestone cliffs, it felt like being let in on a wonderful secret.

To one side of the same island was an exquisite beach: soft white sand, aqua water (‘aqua’ in Thai is si far talay, literally ‘sea-blue colour’), limestone outcrops and tropical fish to gaze upon – with or without a snorkelling mask. Tash found a ‘baby pool’ in a cleft among the rocks and Roo and I took turns at swimming with her and with the fish.

Apparently there is an walk that shows how far a boat was tossed inland by the December 2004 tsunami, but we were too enchanted by the beach to drag ourselves off to see it. And true to form, we were having too much fun to take photos – although there is a good one of the beach at Hong Island on Christina and Nadim’s travel blog.

Tash slept wrapped in a towel on my lap during the ride back to Ao Nang. It’s hard to know at times if she really enjoys what we plan for her, or whether she feels obliged to enjoy it because of our enthusiasm. So it was a great moment, as we got off the boat, to have her come out unprompted with, ‘That was fun!’

[As I write this, almost three months to the day since we took the 5 Islands Tour of Krabi, a State of Emergency has been declared in Thailand and parts of Bangkok are on fire. Krabi is a long way from Bangkok, but concerned travellers can check the Paknam Web Thailand Forum Q&A site for updated information on the security situation].

Islands of Krabi province – Part 1

‘Island hop til you drop.’ Normally a tourism website slogan like this would leave me cold. But in Krabi province, I felt compelled to answer the call. We did three island-hopping tours in the space of a week, visiting around 13 islands. And I’d do it all again tomorrow!

First up was the ‘4 Islands Tour’ by longtail boat, starting at Phra Nang (‘Princess’) Beach near Railay — strictly speaking not an island, though it feels like one as it’s only accessible by boat: limestone cliffs bar access from the mainland. Princess Beach is an exquisite crescent of gold sand and aqua water overlooking a bay studded with limestone islands. We fell in love with the place and subsequently made it our regular morning swimming beach, travelling there each day by longtail boat from a ‘taxi stand’ at Ao Nang.

At Princess Cave (Tham Pranang) at the end of the beach, locals pay homage to the spirit of an Indian princess believed to have perished there in a shipwreck in the 3rd Century BC. Fishermen pray for a good catch, while women pray for a good catch of another kind, leaving offerings of flowers, food and phalluses to the princess spirit; the cave is full of graphically carved wooden penises, some almost as tall as me.

Next stop after Phranang Beach was Poda Island — more gold sand, aqua water — where schools of green, black and white striped Admiral fish swarm in the shallows to eat bananas offered by tourists. Then we cruised around Chicken Island — named for a rock formation which does look remarkably like a chicken — and snorkelled in deep water off the boat. Despite having Tash on my back (both of us in life jackets), I managed to see some Moorish Idols, parrot fish and purple-lipped clams, while Roo saw an octopus.

Last stop on the 4 Islands Tour was Tup Island where a sandbank appears at low tide, connecting it to Chicken Island and another rocky outcrop. When we arrived, people were wading knee deep between the islands, but by the time we left, the sandy bridge was fully exposed and we could walk from one island to the other. Tash and Roo made sandcastles while I went for a solo snorkel, the highlight of which was spotting three families of False Clown Fish living in wavering pink anemones.

Our second tour was to the Phi Phi Islands, this time by speed boat. It was enough to convince us to take a longtail boat next time around. The ride might have been less wild and bumpy if bare-chested young Thai men weren’t at the helm — everyone on board was soaked by the spray — though in their defence, the sea was choppy. Get fitted with a life jacket before embarking and take towels for protection if you choose to go by speedboat.

First stop on the Phi Phi Islands tour was Bamboo Island for rock-pooling, then a long trip to Phi Phi Ley, a rugged, uninhabited island of limestone cliffs. We toured Pi Leh Lagoon, a secluded bay enclosed by sheer rockface, then stopped at Lohsamah Bay for snorkelling. Tash freaked out in the choppy water so we contented ourselves with feeding bread to the fish from the boat while Roo snorkelled.

Then it was on to Maya Bay, insanely popular because the 1999 film of Alex Garland’s novel The Beach was filmed there. It is a lovely beach — white sand, aqua water, limestone cliffs on three sides — but it loses some of its ambience when there are 24 speedboats and 10 longtail boats moored in its relatively small bay — and that’s in a low year!

Lunch was at Ton Sai Beach on Phi Phi Don, the main tourist island. The Lonely Planet describes Koh Phi Phi’s beauty as a curse and I could see what they mean. The beach was built up, wall to wall, with bars and restaurants all advertising parties at night — you could imagine the din as they all competed for customers. Koh Phi Phi’s beaches were flattened by the December 2006 tsunami. Sadly, rather than take the opportunity to question the scale and impact of unbridled development, the place was simply re-built as it was before. Some say it’s even more ‘developed’. Pity, really, because the beach is lovely.

Last stop on the Phi Phi Islands tour was Monkey Bay, my favourite of the day’s destinations. A crescent of white sand so soft my feet sank into it like sponge. A bay of turquoise water fringed with a coral garden alive with colourful fish. Kid-friendly pools and shady trees. So picture perfect, I enjoyed it too much to take any photos.

Nopparat Thara, Krabi Province

I’ve been meaning to write a post or three about our beach holiday in Krabi Province in southern Thailand. I was having way too much fun to blog about it at the time — which speaks volumes — and settling back home in Australia and starting a new job has left me with little time or energy for blogging. But at home on a (welcome) rainy day on (unwelcome) sick leave, I’ve been sorting through hundreds of holiday photos and reminiscing…

Andrew and I couldn’t believe that in all the time we’d spent in Thailand, we’d never been to Krabi province before. But over 10 days in early January, we realised what we’d been missing. My journal entry at the end of our first day at Nopparat Thara Beach begins, ‘Today has been close to a Perfect Day’ and ends ‘…this is just the holiday destination we needed.’

Nopparat Thara is about a 45 minute drive from Krabi Airport, west of Krabi township. Through the helpful website www.yourkrabi.com, we’d booked a bungalow at the family-friendly Sabai Resort and arranged for a transfer from the airport. The Lonely Planet guide Thailand’s Islands & Beaches is a bit disparaging about Nopparat Thara Beach, but it was ideal for our ragtag little family.

Nopparat Thara is a stretch of shell-studded sand with calm, clear water overlooking limestone islands — some close enough to walk to at low tide, others beckoning from the distance. The beach is ideal for small children to swim and build sand castles and popular with Thai families who swim fully clothed to avoid their skin going darker, and gather on the weekends for picnics in the stretch of green that runs alongside the shore.

Women spread out plastic mats, unload rice cookers, home-cooked curries, som tam (spicy green papaya salad), hard boiled quail eggs, pots of tea. They hang caged birds from the trees overhead and wrap newborn babies in towels to protect them from the ‘cold’. Children cajole their parents into buying pinwheels, inflatable toys and fluoro-coloured fairyfloss. Men sit around drinking cheap whisky mixed with lemonade.

Vendors walk around with baskets over their shoulders selling snacks on sticks or fresh fruit. And out of towners like us simply order a feast from one of the nearby restaurants to sai thoong (literally ‘put in a bag’) and eat on the grass. We bought fried chicken and a whole fried mackerel, som tam, and sticky rice for about AUD$10 (270 baht). The meal included the loan of water glasses, a tray and an ice bucket, and we ate in the shade in view of the beach and islands.

For desert there were pancakes/roti sold from vendor carts and topped with unimaginably sweet stuff — think jam and condensed milk and sugar — and long thin icy-poles on bamboo sticks. A woman in a sequined hijab gave Tash a red icy-pole and made her day.

A great place in Nopparat Thara in the evening is at the other, eastern end of the beach, a seafood restaurant on the sand called the Wang Sai — recommended by Tina, Chai and Apple, the friendly and helpful staff at the Sabai Resort. Although the Wang Sai appears to be entirely staffed with drama queens, the Thai food is good and the views of the sunset sublime.

On our first night in Nopparat Thara, we celebrated Andrew’s birthday with dinner at the Wang Sai. At one point during the meal, a man appeared on the beach below our table selling large paper lanterns — the kind they send up into the sky at the Loy Kratong/Yi Peng festival in Chiang Mai to take away bad karma. I bought one for Roo and the three of us walked down on to the sand to set it off.

It was a beautiful sight, watching the red and white rice paper lantern inflate as the man lit a flame beneath it. We helped with the launch and the lantern rose rise like a star and floated through the sky. We watched until it disappeared behind the headland. Magic!

Phnom Penh with children – Part 6

The following article first appeared in the ‘Next Generation’ column of the February 2009 issue of AsiaLIFE magazine. Photos are the author’s own and did not appear in the original article.

Poolside

Phnom Penh is situated on the confluence of four rivers, but that doesn’t mean people know how to swim. Angela Savage interviews Andrew Schultz about his efforts to teach water safety skills, and looks at child-friendly pools in the capital.

Swimming classes for kids
‘High five!’ says Andrew Schultz as the three-year-old successfully steers her kickboard across the pool.

With a friendly style and the energy to match a toddler, Andrew is a natural teacher. His praise helps reinforce the skills and confidence the child is developing as a pupil in his ‘tadpole’ swimming class.

Andrew arrived in Phnom Penh in October 2007. With a background in health promotion, and qualifications as a swim instructor (Austswim) and exercise physiologist, he looked around for a way to harness his interests to what he describes as an ‘exciting environment for business, where you can try new things out.’

‘I was surprised by the interest people had in learning to swim here,’ he says, ‘and also by the lack of ability.’

Data from Thailand and Vietnam showed high rates of death by drowning, and there was evidence to suggest the situation was similar in Cambodia. Andrew knew that teaching people to swim helps prevent drowning, and his straw poll suggested there was a local market for swimming lessons.

Thus CAMSWIM was born, kicking off in March 2008 with swimming lessons for children and adults. From its base at the pool at the Phnom Penh Centre on Sothearos Boulevard, the business has grown steadily to offer 16 classes per week.

Kids classes are offered in 14-week terms, three per year, at a cost of USD$4.00 for expatriates and USD$2.50 for Cambodians per class. The term starts mid-January 2008, but participants can start at any time and pay for the remaining number of classes in the term. The classes attract roughly equal numbers of locals and expats.

‘The parents of toddlers enjoy seeing quick improvement and progress in their children’s skills,’ Andrew says, ‘such as being able to put their face under and move independently in the water.’

And as for the children, ‘Kids love the songs we sing. For them, it’s learning through play.’

Children learn to swim fastest around the age of four to five. But they are at highest risk of drowning between the ages of one to four. Andrew teaches water safety skills for babies as young as six months.

‘The main thing is that if they’re not in the pool themselves, parents should only ever be an arm’s length away from their children and should watch them intently when they are in the water.’

Swimming classes for adults, too
Expatriate parents should also be aware that Cambodians who care for their children might not be able to swim, and might consider investing in swimming classes for carers. With adult classes costing $3 for Cambodians and $5 for expatriates and following the same 14-week terms, it’s a relatively small investment for a life-long, potentially life-saving skill.

Andrew’s current challenge is to train up local staff to become fully-fledged swim instructors, to meet the shortage of swimming teachers in Cambodia.

When it comes to kid-friendly pools in Phnom Penh, Andrew recommends choosing a place undercover or with plenty of shade. In most cases, it costs less to attend one of his half-hour classes than it does to swim in one of the pools listed below.

Kid-friendly pools in Phnom Penh
The Villa Langka is our family’s favourite. The pool isn’t huge but it’s clean, the lush garden always offers shady places, and the pool usage fee can be off-set against the cost of food and drinks. Cost weekdays USD$5/adult, $3/child; weekends $8/adult, $5/child.

The Himarawi Hotel has a large outdoor pool, separate kids’ pool and Jacuzzi. Cost of pool use weekdays $7/adult, $4/child aged 10-15 years and $3/child aged 5-9 years; weekends $8/adult, $5/child aged 10-15 years and $4/child aged 5-9 years. Children under 5 swim free.

The Billabong is a family-friendly hotel with a shady poolside area and open-air restaurant. Pool use costs $5 for adults, $3 for children.

The Kabiki is a family-friendly hotel run by the same people who run the not-so-family friendly Pavilion. The Kabiki has a separate kids’ pool and covered day-beds in a spacious garden. Pool use for non-guests is $5 for adults, $3 for kids.

The Parkway Health Club on Mao Tse Tung Boulevard near Spark Red has a large indoor pool with a semi-circular kids’ section at one end. Entrance fee of $8 is on the steep side but provides access to gym, sauna, etc.

Children use the pool for free at L’Imprevu Resort, Highway 1, 7km past the Monivong Bridge. Cost for adults is $4 at weekends, $2 on weekdays. The separate kids pool is in a shady area.

CAMSWIM
Andrew Schultz 017 986 297, email: camswim@mail.com

Villa Langka
14, Street 282, ph 023 726 771 http://www.villalangka.com

Billabong Hotel
5, Street 158, ph. 023 223 703

Kabiki Boutique Hotel
22, Street 264, ph 023 222 290 http://www.thekabiki.com

Parkway Health Club (Parkway Square)
113 Mao Tse Tung Boulevard. Open 6am-10pm.

L’Imprevu Resort
Highway 1, 7km past the Monivong Bridge. Ph 012 655 440 http://www.hotelimprevu.com

Phnom Penh with children – Part 5

The following article first appeared in the ‘Next Generation’ column of the January 2009 issue of AsiaLIFE magazine. Photos are the author’s own and did not appear in the original article.

Playing indoors

Only as a last resort, on a rainy day in the middle of winter, would any self-respecting Australian choose an indoor play centre over a park or playground. But a year in Phnom Penh with a toddler has given Angela Savage new appreciation of the merits of playing indoors.

A list of ‘Instructions for the Tourist’ in English at the entrance to the Paragon Centre’s indoor playground warns “If the tourist has heart disease, infection disease, psychosis disease, stupid disease, any disease is forbidden to play in it.”

It’s one of several gems guaranteed to entertain you while your children entertain themselves in ‘Toys Land’, one of several indoor play centres Phnom Penh has to offer.

Coming from part of Australia known as the ‘Garden State’, I was skeptical about taking my child to play inside an air-conditioned shopping mall. But with limited options for entertaining an active toddler, especially during the hotter months, I had nothing to lose.

What won me over was seeing how much my daughter enjoys these places. She can interact with local kids her own age and easily play for an hour or more without getting bored. ‘That was fun!’ she told me after a recent foray-high praise coming from a nearly three-year-old.

Sometimes known as ‘Naughty Palaces’, indoor play centres combine brightly coloured, padded vinyl climbing equipment and slides with tunnels, suspension bridges, obstacle courses and the highly popular pen filled with coloured plastic balls, which kids can jump and/or slide into.

The play areas are fully enclosed and make the most of limited space by extending up several levels, like a three-dimensional game of snakes and ladders. They are cleverly designed for children to safely explore and practice a range of motor skills-climbing, balancing, rolling, crawling-and they are more likely to get ‘stuck’ than hurt. Most centres have employees who will come to a child’s rescue, but you should also expect to supervise.

Toys Land on the second floor of the Paragon Centre is among the cleanest and quietest places in town and costs 2,000 riel (USD 50 cents) per child.

When it comes to the Naughty Palace at the back of Pencil Supermarket, getting there is half the fun. Tickets cost 2,000 riel at the check-out counter at the rear of the supermarket. Then go out the back door, up the stairs on the left, through a dimly lit bar called Mr M Café, through another door at the rear of the bar and up another set of stairs to the play centre. The Naughty Palace is popular with local and expat families and contains a trampoline and some fun obstacle courses, as well as the usual slides, tunnels and pen full of coloured plastic balls.

The first-floor playground at the Sydney Shopping Centre on Kampuchea Krom (2,000 riel) has room to run around. In addition to a jungle gym, a free-standing unit with four slides, caterpillar-shaped tunnels and a helicopter, the playground contains two deep tubs of plastic balls for jumping into. There are also small seesaws and rockers. A section next door offers video games and toddler-friendly rides, including an incongruous Mickey Mouse armed with a pistol. Tokens-actually old 50 cent coins from Hong Kong-cost 500 riel at the ticket window.

The ‘Space Ship Zigma II’ upstairs at the Big A shopping centre on Monivong Boulevard (1,000 riel) has seen better days, though its pint-sized patrons didn’t seem put off by either the shabbiness or the smell. In a variation on a theme, the entire floor is covered with coloured plastic balls.

Supermarkets and shopping malls are not the only options for indoor play in Phnom Penh.

The playroom at the Living Room café contains a doll’s house and toy car-park, books, blackboard and chalk, and pencils and pictures for colouring in. There’s a change table for babies, plus a footstool in the toilet to help toddlers reach the seat.

Children are made to feel welcome at Annam Indian restaurant, where a staff member is generally on hand to play catch the ball, balloon or inflatable animal in the air-conditioned playroom. Our toddler likes to watch her dosa being made in the glass-fronted kitchen.

City Suki on Monivong Boulevard has a jumping castle netted off at the front of the restaurant, though this was deflated when I went to inspect it.

Fresco on Street 306 has a room at the back for kids, with beanbags, books, puzzles, a magnetic whiteboard and a large flat screen TV and DVD player. Popular for ice cream.

Annam
#1C, Street 282, open 11am-3pm, 6-11pm. Closed Tuesday.

Big A Superstore
#266-272 Monivong Boulevard. Open 8am-9pm

City Suki
Around #400 Monivong Boulevard

Fresco
Cnr Streets 306 and 51. Open 7am-7pm

Living Room
#9, Street 306. Open 7am-6.30pm Mon-Thur, 7.00am-9.30pm Fri-Sun

Paragon Centre
#12 Street 214. Open 9am-9pm

Pencil Supermarket
#15, Street 214. Open 8am-9pm

Sydney Shopping Centre
139 Kampuchea Krom (St 128). Open 8.45am-8.00pm