Pulau Rawa and back to school

Following the shoe shopping debacle, just before school began, we headed off for a final short break.

We booked 3 nights on a Malaysian Island called Palau Rawa - a tiny, idyllic place with just the one resort, rain forest in the middle, rocky ciffs on one side and a talcum powder, white sand beach along the other.

We travelled by mini bus, organised by the resort, across Singapore and over the checkpoint and bridge to Malaysia. We were then driven for a couple of hours up to the small port of Mersing, from where we took a 20 minute boat ride to Rawa. Our driver on the way up spoke excellent English and appointed himself as our guide. What we now don't know about palm oil, rubber plantations and the historical buildings and places of interest between the Singapore border and Mersing probably isn't worth knowing. After a 20 minute boat trip from the mainland, we finally arrived in time for lunch.

Some time ago, we had bought the children snorkels and masks and they had been very happy practicing in the swimming pool. On our first afternoon, we just had a little go around the front of the reef (just off the beach). Hannah got water in her mask and refused to clear it the way she has been shown, so swam back to the beach. She refused to join in, so wouldn't look at fish and didn't get to see anything, meanwhile Adam had terrific time. However, we were later told that some small dark fish were very territorial and would try and chase us away and could nip.

Day two and with the children wearing life jackets, Hannah decided she could clear her mask after all, so as not to miss the excitement and headed out over the reef. Adam, meanwhile, was having a major wobble about the prospect of being nipped by a territorial fish. The fish in question all lived along the front of the reef, so we had to swim past them to get out to see the other coral and fish. As the tide went out and we got closer to the reef and fish, we became increasingly aware of the threat as they confronted us menacingly (albeit that they were no more than 4 inches long) only inches from our masks.

It took a while, but finally both children were snorkelling confidently and happily and a great time was had by all. They were so excited we could hear them shrieking and talking into their snorkels when they saw something new. With lots of coral and about 25 or so species of fish, they felt as if they were swimming in an aquarium.

When the tide went right out, the top of the reef was exposed. It made a very impressive rock pool when wading around the beach front - if you didn't mind wading with the crabs and foot long sea slugs. Personally, I preferred to stay on the beach and observe the sea life from above when the tide was in.

Our little chalet was basic but clean and comfortable ane was on stilts, hanging out over the rocks and sea. From the veranda, we watched a huge shoal of thousands of tiny fish that lived underneath. We also saw their numbers start to diminish slightly, courtesy of the local cormorant.

After 3 days of snorkelling, sand castles, a few games of table tennis and paddling round the island in a canoe, it was time to head home. This in itself was quite an adventure. The little bits of rain we had experienced whilst on Rawa were a full blown monsoon on the mainland, causing burst river banks and flooded roads. Some highly creative driving by our driver down the outsides of traffic jams speeded up our progress though.

Term time is now whizzing by - and Adam and Hannah have both settled into their new classes with their new teachers. Hannah is thrilled that she can now do ECAs (extra-curricular activities) and is doing football (long story, she wanted gymnastics) and Scottish dancing, while Adam has joined the choir and is doing basket ball.

After 8 weeks off and with lots more homework this year, they're feeling pretty tired already. I have to say, we're feeling it too, being back to those 6.45am starts. It's most uncivilised!