Day Eighteen - 08/12/25
Woke up at Le Forest for the first time, and the place instantly felt like a refreshing change. Before we even headed to breakfast, the kids were already on the hunt for Rosie, and sure enough, we found her sitting in the freezer at our new accommodation. She’d left a note saying she’d managed to sneak out before the cleaners arrived at Bambusa and make her way over here by herself.
Good on you, Rosie… she’s certainly getting a workout this year keeping up with us.
We headed down for buffet breakfast, which runs 7–10am like Bambusa, but the spread is completely different. Rice, noodles, four types of eggs, roasted veggies, salad, soups, crepes, fruit, yoghurt, and most importantly, massive coffee mugs. Absolute game changer, but no Pravi flipping omelettes, which is definitely missed. The seating area is small for how many people are staying here, so everyone ends up sharing tables. Actually kind of fun. We chatted with Daniela and Fernando, who run Le Forest, plus some of the younger helpers from the world school hub.
At 9am there was a yoga/Pilates session, so Kia and Maddison joined in. Meanwhile a group of kids were keen for soccer, and Emmett desperately wanted to go. I tried to start working, after a slow start to the day. We’ve got reliable power and decent internet, finally, but 30 minutes into a work call, Emmett appeared, telling me the bus to go to soccer was leaving and we were going to miss it.
So I wrapped up the call early and we sprinted outside to catch the van… only to find it had already left. Hiring a scooter would've taken too long, so I told Emmett, “It’s only 3km, let’s just jog it.” And off we went, running down the road in the heat, stopping once for water. Eventually we made it and jumped straight into the game. About 45 minutes to an hour of kids (ages 3–14) and a few competitive dads running around in the humidity. Chaos, but a heap of fun.
We got a lift back with some other families instead of jogging home and met up with Kia and Maddie again where I finally got stuck into a decent block of work, while the kids got stulc into traditional Vietnamese hat decorating.
Lunch was a bit of a fail. Grab cancelled our order after an hour, and the resort menu is pretty limited. So we ended up with chips, spring rolls, and snacks just to keep everyone going.
Because the vans organised by the hub are expensive with so many people sharing, we decided to rent a scooter for the week. It’ll save a fortune and give us flexibility. The kids and I will scoot around; Kia can jump in the organised transport when she needs to.
Once the scooter arrived, we headed off to the afternoon activity, pickleball. All four of us cruised down together. It turned into a great workout. Kia and I played a few good games, the kids jumped in a bit, and Maddie mostly hung out and watched.
Afterwards, we all piled back on the scooter and found a small restaurant on the main road. The pho was delicious, and Emmett’s beef and rice dish looked incredible. It’s already on my list for next time.
After a big day of exercise, running around, and settling into the new place, we headed back early. The kids had some tablet time while Kia and I chilled. She also chipped away at some social videos and did a bit of editing for our YouTube clip.
A full, fun, active first day at Le Forest, with Rosie managing to keep up with us once again.