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22. December 2020 01:03
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Bowling

22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

One day we went playing bowling...I had a dream round where I played my best game ever (including a turkey - three strikes in a row).

22. December 2020 01:03
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Boys Soccer

22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This year both the boys played soccer for the first time.

They made some good friends while playing and did pretty good considering it was the first time.

Lucas' team won the competition in his age group. Aiden made a great effort considering he is a head shorter than all the other boys in his age group.

22. December 2020 01:03
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Kims dads 90th

22. December 2020 01:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Kims dad celebrated his 90th(we think) Birthday this year.

He is mostly bedridden these days, but we managed to get him downstairs to celebrate on this day.

22. December 2020 00:03
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Various kids activities

22. December 2020 00:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Strange year indeed, and other than a few things, it is remarkably the same.

The kids have still done a lot of activities and here are some of them.

Aiden hanging out with his friend Jake at the beach.

Mini golf with Sammi.

Doing puzzles at home.

Aiden had patience to do one of the simpler ones.

Me trying to teach them how to use photoshop...not a bad result for a first try.

Painting the old way.

One of Aidens favourite drawings. It got soaked by accident and he was absolutely devastated. I managed to rescue it somewhat and take this photo.

He went through a phase where he was obsessed with the Titanic.

He was also into Harry Potter and made a drawing of the sorting hat.

I took Aiden out for a run and he did 4.5km without a break...very proud.

Ice skating with friends

Backyard tennis

Ice cream

Karate - Lucas got to wear a black belt after doing a 3 minute plank.

Their Kumite (sparring) gear.

Aiden reading a bit. Reading is really difficult for him. He can read all the words and sentences perfectly, but it is hard for him to comprehend the stories he reads (almost like he is unable to visualise and imagine the story as he reads it.).

21. December 2020 17:03
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Covid backyard camping

21. December 2020 17:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

During the lockdown we spent a lot of time in our backyard having a firepit on the weekends.

One weekend I put up my old tent and I camped in the backyard with the boys...they had a blast.

21. December 2020 17:03
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Coastal Walk - Kamay national park

21. December 2020 17:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the other side of Botany Bay is Kamay national park.

On a very stormy day we went for a walk over there to experience the wild weather.

21. December 2020 13:03
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Harry Potter

21. December 2020 13:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Aiden likes to dress up, this time like harry potter...

21. December 2020 13:03
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School award

21. December 2020 13:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It is not often gets an award from school, so he is super proud when he gets a little encouragement.

16. September 2020 16:05
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Pool and Beach Photoshoot

16. September 2020 16:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

At Boracay I did another shoot with some beautiful models. It was a fun shoot on the beautiful beach and at the hotel pool.

26. July 2020 10:07
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Gold Coast 2020

26. July 2020 10:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Early in the year we made an extended weekend trip to the Gold Coast in Queensland. Main attraction here was for the boys to visit Movieworld and Seaworld.

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24. December 2013 05:05
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Christmas Family Photos 2013

24. December 2013 05:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Every year I do a family photo. This year we decided to use the gingerbread village and the tree as a backdrop.

Merry Christmas.

23. December 2013 05:03
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Gingerbread Village

23. December 2013 05:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Over the Christmas period Aiden and I have been building a Gingerbread village.

It has been good fun for me to put the houses together and for Aiden to help with sticking on the kandy.

16. December 2013 12:56
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More Christmas Photos 2013

16. December 2013 12:56 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Tonight I did some more photos...

The plan was to get a photo of Lucas and Aiden together wrapped in christmas lights. It turned out to be impossible to get especially Lucas to sit still, so we eventually gave up and tried to do some individual shots...the photos below are the best of the lot...not great but will have to do. To be honest the best shot of the evening is the one above of Aiden which I took after we gave up with the chain.

16. December 2013 05:01
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Boys best mates

16. December 2013 05:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Lucas is growing up really fast and him and Aiden are now best mates doing almost everything together (including fighting).

16. December 2013 04:57
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Garage Lizard

16. December 2013 04:57 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day I found this in our garage.

I had to look it up...but it turned up to be a blue tongue lizard but without the stumpy tail we normally see.

I asked Kim if the kids could keep it...but she screamed and said no, so I released it into our garden.

16. December 2013 04:55
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Christmas Banana

16. December 2013 04:55 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

You can tell that Christmas is approaching when Banana's in Pyjamas is wearing a Christmas hat...oh and then there is the cute Santa's helper.

15. December 2013 07:42
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Kims dads birthday 2013

15. December 2013 07:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Yesterday it was Kims dads Birthday and we celebrated with a big lunch party with cake and good food.

And Kim was beautiful as ever and Lucas was very handsome...

10. December 2013 12:11
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Christmas Photos 2013 - Candles

10. December 2013 12:11 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Christmas is approaching fast. The Christmas tree is up and Kim is busy shopping for presents for the various people.

The other night I managed to slot in 10 minutes for the first set of Christmas photos of Aiden and Lucas.

I was shooting these with a 50mm f1.4 lens to get the nice blurry Christmas tree lights. This also meant that I didn't have much room to play with when it came to focus...almost impossible with two moving kids whily trying to get the right mood with facial expressions, tantrums etc. Aiden couldn't sit still and Lucas refused to wear his hat. What do they say...never photograph wild animals and children!

7. December 2013 07:54
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Christmas Concert 2013

7. December 2013 07:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day it was Aiden and Lucas Christmas concert with their daycare centre.

This year they were supposed to dress up in some country's national clothes.

We borrowed some Chinese clothes from KC and they looked very cute in it.

The concert went very well. We were especially impressed how well Aiden was able to follow the instructions and the moves to the various dances.

It was especially funny when they were singing this song with Konitchiwa...Namaste....BULA!!!!

Lucas was also in the first part of the concert sitting down the front with one of the carers.

6. December 2013 07:18
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Big foot playing soccer

6. December 2013 07:18 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Aiden is still playing soccer once a week. Last week he insisted on wearing my shoes instead of his own.

Maybe he was hinting that his old shoes are getting too small.

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4. July 2015 14:07
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Phuket - Big Buddha

4. July 2015 14:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

After Wat Chalong we went up to see the Big Buddha on top of a big hill.

The Buddha itself is 45 metres tall and is very impressive.

They have been building there for the past 10 years and will probably be building for at least another 10.

While there we also did a little prayer for Kim's mum.

And Aiden being his cheeky self did the 3 monkeys pose.

And they loved the big gongs (which you actually rub rather than gong).

Surprisingly they also in a far corner of the compound had some indian gods, but maybe not so surprising since we were close to Myanmar with a large indian based population (lots of Myanmar people in Phuket).

3. July 2015 13:07
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Phuket - Wat Chalong

3. July 2015 13:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

One morning we ventured out to see one of the islands biggest temples, the Wat Chalong.

It is a magnificent temple with lots to see and it was a pity that the rest of the family didn't want to join us.

The temple contains what is said to be a bone fragment of buddha.

And the temple itself is full of golden buddhas.

Outside there are some elephant sculptures and across from that an areas where they fire of ceremonial fireworks which really scared the boys (as seen of Lucas face).

2. July 2015 13:07
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Phuket - Food

2. July 2015 13:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The food in Thailand is delicious.

There are so many variations that we cannot get at home and they don't add all that sugar.

Lucas was a bit tired after a morning at the beach at this one.

On KC's birthday we went to an ocean front seafood place.

I don't think the family liked the food in Thailand much though, because they wanted to eat japanese and wanted air conditioned restaurants even though the evenings generally were a bit cooler.

1. July 2015 13:07
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Phuket - Various

1. July 2015 13:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Here are some various photos that I haven't posted earlier.

Here is one of a jumpshot with Kim and I in front of the big Buddha.

Down at the beach there was this artificial wave surfing centre.

1. July 2015 13:07
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Phuket - Shopping

1. July 2015 13:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The family did lots of shopping.

Kim's family had suits and shirts made and the girls bought lots of shoes.

We also found some great tshirts for the kids.

Although the kids were more interested in the ice cream.

1. July 2015 12:07
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Phuket - fruits

1. July 2015 12:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It is fruit season at the moment so we bought lots of really delicious fruits such as Rambutans, mangosteens, mangoes, jack fruit etc.

30. June 2015 13:07
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Phuket - Street life

30. June 2015 13:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The street life in Thailand is as it always have been with lots of food stalls and other shops.

Petrol for all the bikes is bought in these small shops as well.

You can even get your feet cleaned by fish.

And handicraft is created there as well (The large elephant piece took him 2 weeks to create).

A new addition is the popup cocktail bars.

It reminds me of the good old days of backpacking where nothing was arranged beforehand. I would just organise accommodation when I arrived to a new place. There is still plenty of accommodation options everywhere if you look for it.

29. June 2015 13:07
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Phuket - Tuk Tuks

29. June 2015 13:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The traditional Tuk Tuks of thailand are now completely gove from the Phuket area and have been replaced by mini taxis.

These have been fitted with big music subwoofers and tv's in the passenger compartments.

The Kids loved riding them...especially the 'green' ones. We used them to transport us to most places.

25. June 2015 12:07
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Phuket - Hotel swimming pool

25. June 2015 12:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The pool at the hotel was great.

The kids loved it and it was nice jumping in the pool after an excursion out and about.

It really boosted the kids confidence swimming there.

If it had been up to Kim's family then they would have stayed at the pool the entire trip and not have left the hotel.

24. June 2015 11:07
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Phuket - Monkey show

24. June 2015 11:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

There was also a monkey show with a larger trained monkey.

Apparently in the past they used trained monkeys to fetch coconuts for them and they demonstrated how they trained them.

Kim's dad had his photo taken with the monkey.

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6. March 2013 09:33
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Lucas 5 Months

6. March 2013 09:33 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Lucas is now 5 months and we did his monthly photos the other day together with Aiden.

This also gave me an excuse to try out the new strobe I bought for photography (an Alien Bee B800) and it worked out great...so much better than trying to use multiple flashes inside a softbox to get enough power.

Aiden and Lucas are already ganging up on us and sitting giggling together. They absolutely adore eachother although Aiden sometime can get a little rough with Lucas.

Afterwards we went to the local Park to have a bit of a play (see previous post with photos of Aiden).

5. March 2013 03:01
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Aiden at Boralee Park

5. March 2013 03:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day we visited Boralee Park to let Aiden play and to take some photos of Lucas.

Aiden is now definitely less afraid of playing and is quite happy zooming down the slides by himself...although he is a little cautious about the swing unless showing off in front of Lucas.

http://summitconsulting.com.au/cs/photos/aiden_2013/images/7539/original.aspx

26. February 2013 08:47
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Sydney Aquarium 2013

26. February 2013 08:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Sunday we went to Sydney Aquarium with Sacha, Mavis and their daughter Sammi.

Believe it or not, but it was my first time to the Sydney Aquarium, I guess we were waiting for Aiden to be old enough to really enjoy it (Lucas is still too little).

Aiden immediately ran off with Sammi to look at all the fish tanks.

And as we descended deeper and deeper we came close to the big fish in their larger tanks.

And we could look at them walking through the underwater tubes.

They are also one of the only aquariums in the world having Dugongs in captivity.

In the old days it was though that these creatures were mermaids and you can see how that could happen.

LOOK!!!!! A MERMAID!!!!

Anyway...for the most part it is about me watching the Dugong watching the people watching the Dugong....

Unfortunately I had a terrible hay fever and probably would have enjoyed it even more without it....but we may go back in the near future.

6. February 2013 09:09
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Blue Mountains Landscapes and Waterfalls

6. February 2013 09:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend in the Blue Mountains I took a series of Panorama and waterfall photos.

This first one is taken from Govetts Leap.

And these two are from Evans Head.

This waterfall is also at Govetts Leap.

And these waterfalls are all from the Grand Canyon walk.

5. February 2013 09:09
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Leura Toy Museum

5. February 2013 09:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the last day in the Blue mountains we made a visit to the Toy and Railway museum in Leura.

They had a lot of old toys and movie related memorabilia such as Tintin.

...and James Bond.

and some impressive Meccano pieces.

Outside there was a garden with a Japanese inspired section

Along with a Matterhorn model railway.

And other railway stuff.

5. February 2013 09:00
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Blue Mountains February 2013

5. February 2013 09:00 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we rented a small cabin in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains.

It was a nice little place with a couple of bedrooms and a nice little fireplace. It was a cool couple of days so we had the fireplace going most of the time.

During the day we would go for nice walks in the local area much to the enjoyment of especially Aiden...

...and have lunch at cafes to the enjoyment of Lucas.

The forest around the cabin had a couple of lyrebirds.

31. January 2013 08:51
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My Dad leaving

31. January 2013 08:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

My dad holiday is over and he is returning back to home. To celebrate their last ight we went to a Korean BBQ place in Sydney and then we had a coffee across the street later.

Hopefully it won't be too long before he is coming back!

26. January 2013 08:13
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Darling Harbour - Pre Australia day

26. January 2013 08:13 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last night we were at Darling Harbour with my dad having dinner. They had already started the pre-Australia Day celebrations with music and a light show on the harbour.

Dinner was very nice...but too much food.

26. January 2013 08:10
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Lucas' Eye

26. January 2013 08:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day I was playing around with some macro shots of Lucas and managed to shoot this photo of him...I had something else in mind, but this turned out quite nice (I think).

It was a real challenge to try and keep reflections out of his eye...and as you can see I didn't succeed using a shoot-through umbrella.

19. January 2013 07:54
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Lucas 4 Months Photo

19. January 2013 07:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Lucas is now 4 Months and here are his monthly photos.

Kim has him started on solids hoping that he will start sleeping through and he is almost able to sit and he has started babbling when we talk to him.

His favourite pass time is to eat his fingers and play with his feet.

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2. May 2013 08:17
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Vanuatu - Captured by the tribes

2. May 2013 08:17 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

They finally caught us and wanted to put us in the big pot...

...but we told them that we are too skinny and that some of the fat tourists would taste better and be able to feed the village for months, so they let us go (whew...)!

2. May 2013 08:16
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Vanuatu Tribes

2. May 2013 08:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

While in Vanuatu we went on a couple of tours to get some insight into the old tribal culture.

We did one evening tour with food, song and dance and then a couple of days later we did another one during the daytime with a bit more insight into the tribal life.

On the evening trip they would be jumping out at us in the middle of the bush.

Afterwards they entertained us with song and dance.

During the day tour explained the significance of things such as their tribal drawings.

How they would use bark for making clothing and other items.

How they would preserve banana for several months.

...and the wild pigs they would hunt.

And they would also explain how cannibalism used to work in their society.

As well as other traditions.

I took a whole bunch of portraits of the people in the village.

There were also a bunch of kids around.

2. May 2013 08:15
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Aiden playing with the local kids

2. May 2013 08:15 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On one of the trips to a local village Aiden started playing with the local kids.

It was great that he had some fun as it is pretty hard for someone his age to sit still for long periods of time.

The local kids were great at helping him around and holding the dog so he could pat it.

2. May 2013 08:13
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Vanuatu - Fireshow

2. May 2013 08:13 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

One evening we went to see a fire show...

This turned out to be probably the best fireshow we have ever seen...spectacular.

Fortunately I brought my tripod along so I could capture the following amazing pictures.

The whole show was about 30 minutes with 6-10 performers and finished with group dancing where all the local kids also participated.

2. May 2013 08:11
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Vanuatu - Kids

2. May 2013 08:11 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Obviously I took a large amount of family photos in Vanuatu.

Here are some of them.

...and...all this holiday can be very exhausting...

2. May 2013 08:10
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Vanuatu - Kims Dad

2. May 2013 08:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Kims Dad joined us in Vanuatu.

It was great to have him along and quite funny at times.

When we were out and about he wanted his photo taken with people we met.

And he was brave enough to try the local Kava...I didn't tell him how they make it.

And it was great to have him there to help with the kids.

2. May 2013 08:10
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Vanuatu - The market in Port Vila

2. May 2013 08:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On one of the days we made a day trip into Port Vila city centre. Here was the big market with is open 24 hours per day.

The market is full of fresh produce of all sorts depending on the seasons.

There is even some live produce available such as chicken and crabs.

Because the market is always open, people live and sleep between the stalls with their families.

It is also the place that people go to during lunch to buy food to eat.

There was a whole row of women sitting their waving their arms to keep the flies away from the food.

Also, I don't understand why the western world is spending so much effort and resources on finding cures to diseases such as cancer, diabeter, high blood pressure, arthritis, obesity, athma etc. since they here in Vanuatu already has one magical cure that takes care of them all. It was cheap and easily available at the market and it doesn't matter how much you buy, the price is always the same.

They were also selling improvised charcoal stoves bringing back memories of Kenya where everything was cooked on a Jiko's.

While we were outside the market discussing where to go next this woman and her little girl walked past. The little girl let go of he mums hand and walked over to Aiden (who was sitting in his pram) and gave him a BIG kiss...Aiden is such a chick magnet.

2. May 2013 08:09
by Rene Pallesen
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Vanuatu - Waterfalls

2. May 2013 08:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

There are a number of waterfalls on the main island Efete in Vanuatu.

Some of these are very accessible as they are right next to the road such as this one.

Others are a bit more of a hike, but definitely worth it...such as these ones at Mele.

Unfortunately the access to the falls is not being very well managed. They have cut steps into the limestone and scrubbing the surface to avoid people slipping when walking. Unfortunately this also erodes and changes the waterfalls and I think they should put a walking track adjacent to the falls instead.

2. May 2013 08:08
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Vanuatu - Out and about

2. May 2013 08:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

One day we hired a driver to take us around the island.

One of the places we stopped was the Blue Lagoon which is a small semi freshwater lagoon with large lime stone deposits making the water very blue to look at.

We also stopped at Turtle Bay which is supposed to be a turtle sanctuary...but for what it is (tiny) and the knowledge of your guide (none) very over prised.

But they did have some live coconut crabs.